Texas QB Casey Thompson Enters Transfer Portal After Quinn Ewers Joins Longhorns

Casey Thompson, the Texas Longhorns' 2021 starting quarterback, reportedly entered the transfer portal Friday.

According to The Athletic, Thompson made the decision after Texas landed quarterback Quinn Ewers in a transfer from Ohio State and secured a commitment from class of 2022 quarterback Maalik Murphy.

While Thompson began the 2021 season as the backup to Hudson Card, he took over as the starter three weeks into the season and went on to make 10 starts for the Longhorns.

After playing sparingly in his first two seasons, Thompson enjoyed a solid junior campaign in 2021, completing 63.2 percent of his passes for 2,113 yards, 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions, while also rushing for 157 yards and four scores. 

The 2021 season was rough for the Longhorns as a whole, though, as they went 5-7 and missed out on playing in a bowl game for the first time since 2016.

It was an especially disappointing year since it marked the first season with Steve Sarkisian as head coach following Tom Herman's four years in that role.

Despite the struggles of 2021, the Longhorns may have a bright future thanks to the arrival of Ewers, who is one of the most promising young quarterbacks in college football.

Ewers, who is a Southlake, Texas, native and was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2021 class, originally committed to Texas in August 2020, but de-committed two months later.

He then committed to Ohio State, but after losing the starting job to C.J. Stroud and not attempting a pass as a freshman, Ewers circled back to Texas as a transfer.

Given his talent and Sarkisian's status as a respected offensive mind, Ewers is the heavy favorite to start for the Longhorns as a redshirt freshman next season.

That would have left Thompson on the bench, but after showing some flashes of brilliance this season, he may get the opportunity to start elsewhere in 2022.