With most of their 2024 recruiting class having already taken shape during December's early signing period, there was very little drama for the Texas football program during Wednesday's National Signing Day. And it turns out, that extends to the any perceived competition amongst the quarterbacks on the Longhorns roster as well. With both Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning coming back for another year in Austin as well, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian shut down any possible quarterback controversy before it had the chance to even get off the ground.

“Quinn's our starter,” Sarkisian said bluntly during a National Signing Day press conference, per Caleb Yum of the Austin American-Statesman. You can't fault Sarkisian for giving such a direct response. After all, Ewers, in his second year as the Longhorns starter, had noticeably improved from his freshman season, and helped to lead Texas to the College Football Playoff for the first time. Ewers completed 69 percent of his passes, threw for 3,479 yards, and contributed 27 total touchdowns for a Longhorns offense that was 15th in the country in points per game. Despite the notable strides Ewers already made, Steve Sarkisian believes his Junior quarterback still has plenty of room to grow.

“I don't think that Quinn was a finished product yet. And I think there's there's plenty of room for growth and improvement in development in his game, going into year three. I do think his experience, his maturity are all going to be things he can benefit from.”

That experience of playing in high-stakes postseason games this year will certainly benefit Ewers and the Longhorns as Texas makes the move to the SEC from the Big 12. Speaking of the SEC… both of Arch Manning's uncles, Peyton and Eli Manning, each won SEC Player of the Year during their time at Tennessee and Ole Miss respectively. And from the way Sarkisian talks about Arch Manning, it sounds like he sees a future SEC Player of the Year in his second-year quarterback.

“I think Arch has got an extremely bright future. We're very fortunate to to have him on our roster. He's got great leadership skills, got a great skill set,” Sarkisian said.

For the time being, Manning will need to bide his time as Ewers and co. attempt to replicate the success they had in their final year in the Big 12.