Quinn Ewers (#1 Recruit and Buckeye Commit) Considering Skipping Senior Year to Cash in NIL Deals
Ewers, 18, is heading into his senior season at Southlake Carroll, a public high school in the suburbs of Dallas. He is at a vexing crossroads that could redefine high school football in Texas and elite recruiting.
Ewers has emerged as such a precocious and recognizable star that he has the potential to earn nearly a million dollars in the next year by profiting off his name, image and likeness. A local company called Holy Kombucha is among those offering a deal to Ewers, and it includes cash and equity in the company. There are several other offers, including national brands.
nice mullet
Mullets are pretty good fresh-caught and flash-fried.
We are going to crush the Bucks this year!
GO BLUE!
An endorsement deal with Head & Shoulders, a Cincinnati P&G brand, à la Troy Polamalu is in the works.
Shouldn’t take long for the 6th graders to start getting ‘potential’ NIL opportunities for Legos or My Little Pony.
https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/22/14031288/ryan-toys-review-biggest-youngest-youtube-star-millions
Pretty much already happening. Dude will never have to work a day in his life once he is an adult.
Yeah? Well these kids can all get the fuck right off my lawn!
Good for this to happen to the poor buckeyes who have been starved of QB talent in the last 2 decades. /s
The first offseason in a while in which they’ve had a true QB battle in the offseason and they may end up with possibly the best high school QB since Trevor Lawrence to fall in their lap.
Fall in their lap?? Its called consistently winning, making the playoffs, having top 5 after top 5 class. Its not luck. Jesus
Landing Ewers is due to all of the things you mentioned above. That player then possibly reclassifying to 2021 in the one year you’re facing a QB battle is luck. If he does end up reclassifying, it’s no guarantee he’ll win the starting job. But you’d much rather have him on the roster and have the option to start him than not.
Has school changed that much that you can just say hey, it's almost August, I think I have enough credits to start college now, so see ya? What kind of classes are kids taking now a days?
I teach HS (in Oregon) and was very much wondering the same thing. While every year there are certainly a decent number of students who have enough credits by the end of 11th grade they are most often the same ones padding their transcripts and/or taking a college class or two in order to help them get into a top tier University. But we are talking OSU and top football recruit, so I guess none of that applies.
I started college at 17 and never skipped a grade. This kid is already 18 so the real question is why he was planning to go to HS for another year if he didn’t need to.
My son plays HS baseball and we have started the recruiting process. Once you look at the best players' profiles you see almost all of them are at least a year older than they should be for their grade. I don't know when parents decide to redshirt their kid but I assume many do it so their fastball numbers pop early in the recruiting process.
Well, Justin Fields said the osu campus looked nice, so... ?♂️
He didn't win the Elite 11, so maybe he's only as good as Shane Morris.
/s
Fixed it for you.
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I think the floodgates have opened now to where college football/basketball have turned into something completely different and I'm super internally conflicted about it
It hasn't changed as much as you think.
CFB became a free minor league system for the NFL since racial integration throughout the conferences (which diminished HBCU football programs).
...Except now the talent is being paid out in the open through NIL.
Well, I didn't see those guys just skipping their entire Senior year of HS because they were already getting paid.
Wait, let me rephrase that - they may well have been literally skipping classes virtually their entire HS career, but they weren't discussing it openly!
Ha! You would like it better if this guy got $300k in cash from a McDonald's bag? The question you have to ask yourself is why you like it better when it was under the table vs. now out in the open.
Word in SEC circles (per Ole Miss podcast) is that bagmen have been starting to pay recruits in crypto over the past 12 months or so. It probably started prior to that but was really picking up in popularity prior to the NIL rulings.
The question you have to ask yourself is why you like it better when it was under the table vs. now out in the open
Because there was at least the illusion of some sort of purity and tradition to college sports. Athletes playing for the pride of their schools and as a team. All of the sudden that just seems to be completely gone. I'm all for athletes being paid their market value, but it is bitter sweet
It's entirely possible there's a bubble aspect to this. People are just throwing money everywhere. What if it doesn't move recruits as much as they think? What if they don't get as much on their return as they think they will? What if Ewers flames out and this company is like, "Why the fuck did we give this kid equity in our company?!"
I don't know if it's changed as much as you think, yet. It's the same game. Kids aren't leaving college football early for another pro league, and not so long ago Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Lebron James, and a few others skipped college to play pro ball. I think NIL might bite more kids in the ass than hurt the game. They better be sure of what they are signing and the long term ramifications of these deals before they just jump at every opportunity. They may be endorsing something for 20 yrs.
Channeling his inner 80's surfer dude? Radical to the max.
The whole Southlake Carroll team bleaches their hair similarly for... reasons, I guess. Austin Westlake beat their ass in the state final and former M recruit/Clemson signee Cade Klubnik outplayed Ewers.
Ewers is worth the hype. He looked human in that game with 2 picks but did also have 350some yards and 3 tuddies and that Westlake D was best scoring D in the state.
Klubnik looked like a 5 star in the that game. The Westlake rushing attack was big but Klubnik looked polished when needed. Despite the statistics, it looked like Klubnik had the better game.
The biggest surprise of that game is when the Coyotes came back out of the locker room without legendary coach Bud Kilmer. We learned they mutinied on him and injured 5 star Lance took over coaching duties. Wild ending.
Yep. Unsurprising.
And unless Michigan truly modernizes its offense, we'll fall further behind in this new NIL landscape.
We need to unleash our QBs and make sure they put up video game numbers in service of winning games, beating rivals, earning championships, and getting drafted highly.
I repeat: We have not had a WR, RB, QB, TE (re: non-OL player on offense) get drafted in the 1st round since 2005 (see Braylon Edwards). One year can be a fluke. Two can be a coincidence. What's 15+?
One of the the biggest reasons Ohio State has overtaken us is because of its QBs.
Look at the QBs Michigan had in the 80s and 90s versus the ones Ohio State had. There's a reason why we would often come out on top in the biggest moments - our QBs could make that crucial play that changed the outcome in The Game.
Look at how things changed in the 2000s and 2010s. Sure, Ohio State had more talent. But plenty of talented Ohio State teams lost to us in the past because we had the superior QB. That advantage is a thing of the past and we need to change it.
How did Clemson beat Alabama in 2016? Yes, Alabama was the more talented team (though Clemson was no slouch). But Clemson had the best player on the field at the most important position - QB. Deshaun Watson (his...uh...personal issues aside) is an incredible QB. A truly elite QB elevates the entire team. But at Michigan, we somehow do less with more on offense.
yeah -- hard to say 'rah, rah, rah', 'the team, the team, the team.' in the era of NIL, it is very much about star power and how they elevate the team both in wins/losses and halo effect of NIL.
Hey now, Braylon got drafted in 2005 in the first, though the point remains
You're right. I've corrected it above.
I don’t think it’s just a matter of better QB talent in the last 15+ years. OSU puts their QBs in positions to succeed by having a consistently good OL and running game, fantastic skill players, and a scheme/system that works very well in today’s era of college football. On the offensive side of the ball, they are good everywhere and have been for some time. The QB play has been good to even great, and yet none of those guys have gone to be successful NFL players.
No doubt.
I'm a broken record about this across many Michigan messageboards.
I've said many times and point blank that it's not the players. It's the stupid, outdated philosophy we have underpinning our decisions.
I was talking to a Michigan buddy and he pointed out that Wisconsin's RBs don't do much in the NFL but ball out in college. Does Wisconsin really care that its RBs aren't future HoF RBs? No.
Wisconsin cares insofar as it can generate elite production from those RBs while in college.
Similarly, Tom Brady's success in the NFL is awesome and unprecedented but it has done zilch for us in college. Meanwhile, Ohio State keeps producing overrated dogshit pro QBs but those same QBs keep rewriting the Big Ten record books year after year.
Sure, it would be nice to have the best of both world (college players that go on to be great pros) but as a Michigan fan I would much rather take elite production in college than in the NFL.
Ron Dayne had a great career. Melvin Gordon’s doing well. Johnathan Taylor escaped the early bias of being a program back and took over for Colts.
I’m pretty sure Wisconsin uses their history to get guys to go there. Ask their o-line.
OSU definitely use their NFL preparedness, not their scheme. Sad thing is—they stuck to the spread scheme while we abandoned the RichRod version with Hoke and have vacillated ever since. Wisconsin has never lost its identity—UM has never regained theirs.
It is a lot easier to come in and adjust what isn’t working, but UM reinvented a wheel, then returned, then reinvented itself.
I am most optimistic in the continued offensive scheme. When was the last time UM stuck with an OC for more than two seasons? A scheme? Talent in the front five, the WR and RBs. Talent in the QB room=let it click in year 3 with Gattis.
OSU has never had a QB that made it in the pros. Fields might be the first. We must regain our QB advantage with McCarthy and future
How can you skip your senior year of HS and still be eligible to enroll in college?
Oh, that's right... OSU.
I'm not sure this is correct.
I had taken so many AP classes and college courses in HS by the end of my junior year that I was not only eligible to skip senior year of HS but also 1 full semester at Michigan. Instead, I just knocked out a full year of intro courses and was allowed to enroll directly into higher level courses.
/Maybe Ewers is a precocious student and has enough AP/honors credits to skip senior year. (But I wouldn't bet on it.)
He is one class away and is somehow gonna finish that class in the next week to make it up to Columbus in time for fall camp.
That's fair. Just seems like something you'd have to prepare for, not just one day make that decision. Either way, just seems odd.
He likely was preparing for it. Most HS credits required are flexible to attain in three years minus English—because you can take electives in many sciences (lab and social), but there is generally only one path for English (minus taking Honors/AP versions of the same course).
I spent my senior year in mostly study halls and extra science classes. AP English was the only course that I needed to take to fulfill Ohio HS degree read way back in the late 90s. I am sure it has progressed since then, especially with the online capabilities over two decades. Dual enrollment has grown exponentially. One of my friends had 30 college credits because she had a car to get her to the local CC and supportive parents. That was rare then, not now.
I am skeptical of year long English being done as a summer class in half the summer, but I could see it being done successfully over two months, with more contact hours/reading and writing being done weekly.
Remember, he was almost assuredly going to graduate in December and enroll early like most recruits these days. He basically only needed to take a semester's worth of work in summer school. That's pretty doable, although the specific credits needed could be dicey.
You'd be shocked the actual requirements to graduate in some states
Would Ewers still be regarded so highly if he were a 2021? He wasn't that good at the Elite 11, even if he still has a lot of potential. And what would this do to Kyle McCord? I know the top teams are collecting talent like crazy, but two 5* QBs in the same class is unheard of.
Someone will lose a chance to start and will leave after this year, minimum. It happened with both USC and Bama at their heights—maybe not in the same class, but in there straight years.
They will take the Burrow and Fields path to start at a school in need and on the rise.
UM has to prepare their defense to face 5 star play. Doesn’t matter the last name on the jersey—prepare for very good passers. Only one will be in the game at a time, so expect to play the best. What I mean is: don’t hope for OSU failures to believe or prepare to win.
He probably still be a 5 star or really high 4 star. McCord or Ewers will end up transferring in two years.
The dude will be a first round NFL draft pick in 2 years...just sayin.
Is this kid that good ? I do think we win this season...and maybe the next. Would be great to have the momentum until he first plays.
He could definitely see the field if CJ Stroud falters early on. His pure passing mechanics are very advanced and has the arm strength to play in college right now. He's not a great runner, more of a shifty and opportunistic one, like the string of Northwestern QBs... basically good enough to keep you semi-honest on the read option but not going to wreck you with his running.
With the receivers he has at his disposal, I doubt they would be running much anyway. Probably more of a Haskins type. Did not handle pressure real well in the h.s. championship game but didn't see enough other games to know if that was a trend-- and it's not something you can see in camps, either.
Going to be a wild scene when these deals flop. Like, what if he does this, gets millions, and never wins the starting job and transfers to Ole Miss? What if he loads up on deals and is late for a meeting or practice because he was shooting a commercial? What about the locker room in general? Some kid getting a million that isn't putting in the practice effort is going to get popped by "works his ass off starter or second stringer". There are going to be some great stories that come out of all of this.
Get your money kids sure, but I have my popcorn ready for the issues surrounding 17 year old HS kids signing 6-7 figure deals before they step on campus.
Well, those are all irrelevant hypotheticals. No one is going to sign him to NIL and then go against their cash cow’s practice schedule. Have you ever heard of a pro player late for practice because Nike wanted them to make a commercial? Do you think some upstart is going to piss off OSU football?
And, if he fails, it doesn’t matter to big name signers who can take a loss, and I imagine $ for autographs, etc., will be mostly agreed to/signed off in mutual opt-ins. Memorabilia companies are like pawn shop owners—they will offer conditionals for payment.
That’s why we keep seeing “up to” in possible earnings.
Exactly. If he flops his endorsers write it off as a business expense and move on to the next star prospect. This kid is going to have football crazed Columbus begging him to endorse products.