Sam
Ehlinger.
Sam
Ehlinger.
Texas· 6'1"· 220 lb· 4.84s 40
"A 6'1", 220 lb four-year Texas starter with 11,436 career yards and 43 rushing TDs, whose arm talent and processing lagged his toughness — a Day 3 developmental backup projection."Pre-draft read
Ehlinger operates as a compact, sturdy pocket manager. His best football thrives on rhythm throws inside the numbers and off-schedule scrambles. Working primarily from shotgun with RPO and boot concepts, he swiftly reads first-window opportunities and decisively pulls the ball down to gain 6–8 yards on second-and-medium. His release is compact, and his ball placement on hitches, slants, and stick routes is above average.
He struggles with second-window and true anticipation throws; his arm is average NFL grade, causing intermediate outs and deep comebacks to hang. Layered dig/post concepts demand he widen his base and drive with his lower half, which erodes in a muddy pocket. Under pressure, he trusts his legs over his eyes, drops his platform, and throws off his back foot.
Ehlinger is custom-built for a spread RPO or play-action heavy quick-rhythm passing game that leverages his mobility and accuracy on timing routes.
Immediate Year 1 depth as a QB3 with a ceiling to develop into a spot starter in a run-heavy play-action offense.
A vertical-based Air Raid or West Coast system that demands consistent downfield ball placement and touch from outside the numbers.
His ideal scheme maximizes his short-area accuracy and mobility, mitigating his average arm strength and tendency to struggle with anticipation throws.
Sam Ehlinger 2020 Full Highlights | Texas QB | 2021 NFL Draft Prospect
Senior year full-season film — RPO reads, designed QB runs, short-area rhythm throws.
Texas QB Sam Ehlinger 2020 Highlights
Second 2020 cutup with more pass-drop reps against Big 12 defenses.
2021 NFL DRAFT: Sam Ehlinger | Indianapolis Colts
Colts draft selection package with pre-draft breakdown.
Ehlinger projects as a developmental backup quarterback, offering a team a sturdy, athletic signal-caller capable of executing a rhythm-based, play-action scheme. His ability to extend plays with his legs and deliver accurate short-area throws makes him a viable option for a run-heavy or RPO-centric system, compensating for an average arm that limits the vertical passing game.
A four-year starter, he demonstrated significant durability and leadership, starting 43 games at Texas. His usage leaned heavily on quick game, RPOs, and designed QB runs, which allowed him to accumulate 43 rushing touchdowns. While he posted strong career completion percentages, the offense did not frequently ask him to execute pro-style dropbacks or full-field progressions.
Evaluator concerns primarily centered on his ordinary arm strength, inconsistent deep-ball accuracy, and mechanics under pressure. He was generally viewed as a Day 3 selection, a QB6–QB8 in his class, providing backup traits like toughness and short-area accuracy, but with a limited ceiling due to arm talent. He was selected 218th overall by the Colts, fitting a need for cheap QB3 depth.
- 01
Durable Starter
Played in 43 games without missing snaps, showing unusual durability and toughness for the position.
- 02
Accurate Short Throws
Consistently places the ball accurately on hitches, slants, and stick routes, allowing receivers to gain yards.
- 03
Rushing Threat
Accumulated 43 career rushing touchdowns, capable of extending plays and finishing runs through contact.
- 04
Quick Pre-snap Reads
Swiftly reads first-window opportunities and decisively pulls the ball down to gain 6–8 yards on second-and-medium.
- 05
Above Average Athlete
Posted a 4.84 forty-yard dash and 36.5-inch vertical, confirming above-average functional mobility for the position.
- 01
Below Average Arm
An average NFL-grade arm causes intermediate outs and deep comebacks to hang, limiting the vertical passing game.
- 02
Mechanics Under Pressure
Trusts legs over eyes, drops his platform, and throws off his back foot in a muddy pocket, eroding his base.
- 03
Late Anticipation
Struggles with second-window and true anticipation throws; often waits for receivers to declare open.
- 04
Inconsistent Boundary Throws
Ball placement on perimeter throws to the boundary is inconsistent, affecting hitch, comeback, and back-shoulder throws.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.84sp50
- Vertical
- 36.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 114inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.15sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.44sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Texas | 9 | 158 | 275 | 1915 | 11 | 7 |
| 2018 | Texas | 14 | 274 | 424 | 3294 | 25 | 5 |
| 2019 | Texas | 13 | 296 | 454 | 3663 | 32 | 10 |
| 2020 | Texas | 10 | 194 | 322 | 2566 | 26 | 5 |
| Career | — | 46 | 922 | 1475 | 11438 | 94 | 27 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Day-3 developmental QB who stuck for years as a QB2/QB3 on functional offenses without ever unseating a starter — the exact career outcome.
Compact, tough four-year starter whose short-area accuracy and rhythm made him a viable spot starter despite ordinary arm — the achievable NFL ceiling.
Late-round backup who cycled between rosters and earned occasional starts as an injury replacement without moving the needle — the floor if he loses his roster spot.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context. Ehlinger arrived at Texas as the local prodigy from Westlake (Austin) and left as a four-year starter with 11,436 passing yards, 94 passing TDs, and 43 rushing scores — the second-most rushing TDs by any Power 5 QB in the CFB Playoff era at the time. His 2020 senior year (26 TD / 5 INT, 65.2%) leaned on quick game and RPO reads within the offensive structure, and evaluators split hard: the toughness, leadership, and short-area accuracy were legit, but the arm strength was ordinary, the deep ball floated, and the pocket footwork often reset onto his back foot under pressure. Senior Bowl reps were uneven. The board consensus by April was a Day 3 developmental grade behind Trask and Mond among the second-tier arms.
NFL fit — Indianapolis Colts. The organization took Ehlinger at #218 as a low-cost QB3 project behind Carson Wentz, a room built around a play-action, boot-heavy scheme that theoretically fit his mobility and short-to-intermediate accuracy. When Matt Ryan cratered in 2022 and Sam Ehlinger unexpectedly got three starts during a period of organizational transition, the tape confirmed the pre-draft ceiling questions: 3 games, 0 passing TDs, 41.2% third-down conversion, and a limited menu that produced no explosive throws. He remained in Indianapolis behind Anthony Richardson in 2023 as a spot backup, then was traded to Denver in 2024 as depth behind Bo Nix.
Retrospective. Round-6 backups rarely outperform their draft slot, and Ehlinger has done exactly what the range asked: cheap veteran QB depth, one legitimate audition, and a locker-room stabilizer. The pick was efficient — never a serious threat to unseat a starter, but never a wasted roster spot either.