He's getting alot of press, moving up all-time rankings, and it got me thinking.... Would love to hear thoughts. As you know, he is moving up the Longhorn historic ladder quick, with a chance to end up on top, stat-wise, at least. And here's a fun fact noted in the following piece... "Ehlinger is the active FBS leader in total yards, passing yards, total touchdowns and passing touchdowns." Let that sink in... (Yet this strange PFF rank excludes him from the top 10....Curious as they had SE at #3 two weeks ago ....and still has Rattler at #4 even after last Saturday) PFF does not include Texas QB Sam Ehlinger in latest Heisman watch
Sam does not have, or hadn’t had, the cast around him the other ‘stars’ have had, IMO. Plus he’s a very quiet kind of leader. It’s his stats that blow you away when revealed because he is just a constant workman andvgoes about his task accordingly. And, maybe most important, he has no championships to his credit.
Rattler at 4 and Sam not ranked is a joke. Sam brought his team back to victory. Rattler literally got rattled and lost.
Didn't Rattler have 3 turnovers? We'll settle this when we play them. O is going to have to score some decent points (probably 40s) to win that game. That would propel Sam into the top 3 when we get that win.
If Sam had an SEC OL or Dabo as his coach, he'd definitely be #1 for accolades this year. Probably even if the B1G or Pac were playing before this point as well. In terms of Longhorn greatness, I have him up there but not #1. Colt is always going to be my mainstay for the top spot because of longevity, consistency, efficiency, and attitude. Sam is probably around #5-6 for the following reasons: 1. Split time and was either hurt or inconsistent coming out of HS. 2. As great as 3 bowl wins are, none of them really matter. 3. His poor games were magnified as pivotal losses in mediocre seasons (OK State & Tech 2017, TCU & ISU & BU 2019). Whenever VY or Colt lost, we knew we would rebound. The sky is falling every time Sam loses. I kind of have Sam as a more successful James Brown. JB had that chip on his shoulder and leadership presence that Sam has, but Sam is like 10x the QB Brown ever was at throwing or running an offense.
What is amazing to me are the number of sports writers who know nothing about sports. Spencer Rattler? Really? King? Well if he plays well this week maybe but FSU isn't the stage. Sam probably cannot win the Heisman without some help from Fields and Lawrence but Sam should be in the conversation over anyone from Miami or paperclip.
Doesn't really matter since the trophy probably already has been engraved with "2020 Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson). The issue is the same as faced by Vince - the only opportunity Sam will have to show on the field that he is the superior talent would be Texas and Clemson playing each other in the CFP which would be after the Heisman vote (same as Vince/Bush). Sam's place in history will be passing Vince and Colt in the record books.
Vince’s miss on the Heisman really brought it home to me that the award should be a post, post season award.
My biggest challenge in not watching games is Sam. He epitomizes Texas Fight. I’m hoping the Horns win out and he wins the national championship. I could care less about the meaningless Heisman Trophy.
Why is this? Why does it seem like if you are at Texas you have an inherent disadvantage nationally with these types of awards and recognition. I mean....Colt in 08 was.....wow....and he got so little love the media didn't even act like it was a big deal he went out in the first quarter of an NC game
Sam is good. But you have to consider the evolution of spread passing offenses in the equation. You think James Street wouldn't be good in an environment where passing was practiced all year and emphasized in the game. The guy was a great pitcher. Sam won't be an alltime great because the coaches suck. Buechele could have done good things at Texas too if his coaches were anything. I think a good comp for Sam is James Brown. James Brown would have loved 2020 offenses and done really well in them.
Sam is a very good not great quarterback who is just a little too inconsistent. For every great throw he will have a couple that are short, off target or just not the right place. He has long stretches of being average when he needs to be great (see TCU yesterday and last year). He may be toughest QB we have had but overall pantheon he is behind Colt, Vince, Bobby Layne, Street.
Not even close to Simms or Applewhite. If he can win a Big 12 ship this year he could approach James Brown status maybe.
I think Sam is a little higher on the stats ladder because of our poor defense and needing to do Offensive Sprints just to keep up on the scoreboard. I think he is a little lower in our heart/mind/perception also because of the poor defense. If our defense were better and some of those games had turned out as W's, we would have won conference titles and been in CFP mix. That would have entirely changed our opinion for him as a winner/leader. QB's get all the focus obviously but their public perception actually depends a whole lot on what the rest of the team does.
National conversation - probably none. It looks like UT will be the same 4-5 loss team as in the past 3 years. For Texas - a bigger, stronger, more stat rich Major? That would be what I'd put him at. Great leader, some nice wins, but due to things beyond his control, no championships to cap off a career here. That can change with a B12 title, and Texas still has as good a shot as that as anyone this year, but they have gone from favorites to one of maybe 5 teams (ISU, OU, OSU, UT, TCU) that could win it.
Normally, (just a made-up example) even in the NFL, if you go 28 for 36 throw for 4 TDs and one INT, for example, and maybe run for one, and and score 40 or 50 points, that one INT and 8 incompletions would not be called "inconsistency." Sam's problem is that because of our defense, 5 TDs with no INTs is a win, and 4TDs with 1 INT is a loss, and then, it's ALL SAM'S FAULT for that INT! As far as Heisman, Sam just has no highlight reel appeal, and really not much TV entertainment value. His only way to be in that conversation would be to win every game so that he could not be ignored, maybe like Tebow. Without an undefeated team, he would never win that award.
