What you need to know about Quinn Ewers' move to the 2021 class
Five-star Ohio State signee Quinn Ewers was officially announced by the Buckeyes as part of their 2021 class Sunday, completing his reclassification. With that announcement Ewers was officially moved from the 2022 Rivals250 to the 2021 Rivals250. The analyst team decided it was appropriate to rank Ewers as the top player in the 2021 class, overtaking LSU signee Maason Smith.
Here is what you need to know about Ewers' move to the 2021 class.
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EWERS A DESERVING NO. 1 FOR 2021
Ewers is such a unique talent at quarterback that moving him to No. 1 in the 2021 class wasn't strongly opposed by anybody on the analyst team. As a junior, he filled up the stat sheet and piled up wins against some of the toughest competition in the country. There are a lot of really impressive skills to see in Ewers' film from last season and we got a couple in-person evaluations of him again this offseason. He checks all the boxes physically with his height, weight, and mobility. Ewers can launch the ball pretty much anywhere he wants with the flick of his wrist.
Digging further into his film, Ewers' creativity and accuracy become very clear. Mechanically, Ewers has a crisp and natural throwing motion. He can deliver the ball into tight windows and properly lead receivers so they can pick up yards after the catch. Ewers isn't all that fast but he is quick in the pocket, does a good job escaping the rush, and can buy himself time to deliver the pass. He is very good on the move and makes some off-balance throws that are truly eye-popping. The arm talent that Ewers has to be able to accurately throw the ball with different release points and arm angles has drawn comparisons to (and praise from) stars like Patrick Mahomes.
Maason Smith was an obvious and safe choice as the top player in the 2021 class but with Ewers entering the discussion, his ceiling is just too high for him to be anywhere but No. 1 in the 2021 Rivals250.
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WHAT EWERS MEANS FOR THIS BUCKEYES CLASS
Since most programs closed the books on their 2021 class back in February, Ohio State has added two five-stars in Ewers and defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau. With five-stars Emeka Egbuka, Donovan Jackson and Jack Sawyer already leading the way, the Ohio State class is primed to make a few more runs at the national title.
Ohio State's 2021 class features 17 Rivals250 prospects and 12 of them ranked in the top 100. Ryan Day's offense should remain one of the most potent in the country because his top eight offensive signees rank inside the top 100.
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EWERS PUTS BOW ON HISTORICALLY GREAT OHIO STATE CLASS
To put Ohio State's 2021 recruiting class in the proper context consider this: With Ewers in the fold, Ohio State's 2021 recruiting class was the fifth best recruiting class since 2007. This Buckeyes class, the best No. 2 recruiting class since 2007, is rated higher than 11 No. 1 classes during that span.
Ohio State is just the fourth team to sign two Rivals250 No. 1 prospects, joining Alabama, Clemson and Florida. There have only been four quarterbacks to finish at No. 1 in the Rivals250 and Ohio State has signed half of them, Ewers and Terrelle Pryor.
Bringing in Ewers with the 2021 class also means that Ohio State has signed the highest-ranked quarterback duo ever. USC in 2011 and Florida in 2007, 2011, and 2014 are the only recruiting classes that featured two quarterbacks in the top 100 but no other team can match the high rankings of Ewers at No. 1 and Kyle McCord at No. 34.
Ewers is just the latest reward for Ohio State's efforts in the state of Texas, where the Buckeyes have signed a blue-chip recruit from the Lone Star State every year since the 2017 class. Ewers is now on a list of Buckeye Texans that includes Jeffrey Okudah, J.K. Dobbins, Baron Browning, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Donovan Jackson.
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DEPTH OF 2021 QUARTERBACK CLASS IS IMPRESSIVE
Simply put, the 2021 quarterback class could turn out to be the deepest in years. There are now four quarterbacks in the top 10 of the Rivals250, the most ever. Ewers joins fellow 2021 five-star quarterbacks Caleb Williams, Brock Vandagriff, Ty Thompson and Sam Huard. There were three in the top 10 of the 2018 class that featured Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields and JT Daniels.
This class of quarterbacks was already considered one of the deepest of all-time but Ewers takes it to another level. McCord, J.J. McCarthy and Jake Garcia also landed inside the top 50 of the Rivals250.
CLASS OF 2021 QB RANKINGS: Pro-style | Dual-threat
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EWERS IS IN RARE AIR
For all the talk about position value, a quarterback hasn't finished as the top player in the Rivals250 since Trevor Lawrence in 2018. Ewers joins Vince Young, Jimmy Clausen, Pryor and Lawrence as the only quarterbacks to finish at No. 1 in the Rivals250.
It's a common practice in basketball recruiting but Ewers has become just the fifth prospect in the last six recruiting classes to graduate and enroll at their school of choice before what would have been their senior year. Current Georgia quarterback JT Daniels reclassified from the 2019 to the 2018 class while both North Carolina defensive back Tony Grimes and Auburn receiver Malcolm Johnson moved from the 2021 class to the 2020 class. Before them, Jake Bentley reclassified from the 2017 class to the 2016 class to get to college a year earlier than expected.
Ewers is also one of the bigger stories when it comes to recent NIL trends. He has a deal with a kombucha company that included an equity stake. Had the NIL rules in Texas allowed for high school players to sign endorsement deals, Ewers would have likely stayed at Southlake Carroll for his senior season.
