I think you are trying too hard to justify this. The idea of Ewers not winning the job was sourced to a lot of different people.
And with NIL, this exact scenario has been discussed. Kiffin did a whole interview where he said it was a matter of time before booster influence is a deciding factor. Kiffin said when he was in the NFL if the owner said player X should start or play, player X started or played. You don't tell the guy who is paying your salary no. He said the same is going to happen with boosters who have ponied up a ton of NIL.
With that in mind, here is a post from the OB that I got from another source:
In one of the more shocking sentences that I'm ever going to write, it appears that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is leaning towards naming third-year sophomore Hudson Card as his starting quarterback against La-Monroe.
When Sark said on Thursday that he has a "pretty good idea" of who he will name, he was talking about Hudson per more than a half-dozen sources with knowledge of the situation.
This is where we are 16 days away from the season-opener.
Could things change? Yes. Is it likely at this point?
The current state of things is such that the players involved and those close to the players seem to know the score. But, I think we've all learned to never say never.
So, how has this happened?
To put it as simple as possible, Ewers just isn't ready to be the starter from the mental side of things at the position.
He's not as advanced in front of the chalkboard inside of the quarterback room as he needs to be. What the coaches want from him at the position isn't showing up on the field. Basically, he's a work in progress and there's a feeling inside the program that only now is he truly learning the importance of being an all-in performer with regards to devotion to the playbook and learning every angle of the offense.
On the other side of the equation, Card is an all-in guy from a playbook and study habits perspective, and then being able to explain it all in meetings with coaches.
Both players have committed turnovers throughout the last two weeks, but when it comes to understanding the ins and outs of what is expected from the quarterback position, Card apparently has a large lead.
Is this final? No. Could something happen in the next few days to completely change the current momentum? It seems unlikely, but not impossible.
There is a scrimmage on Saturday and it's not impossible to think that Ewers could have such an overwhelming performance that it change the trajectory of the battle. Yet, as Sark said on Thursday, "he's got a pretty good idea" of what he's going to do. He certainly didn't indicate that the battle was in a position where Saturday would dictate his decision.
I'll be honest with you when I tell you that if we thought Ewers was a single performance away from winning the job, I wouldn't be writing this report. Knowing the arrows that will almost certainly come my way, I'd just kick the can down the road and tell you to wait until Saturday.
Yet, the depth of our sourcing on Thursday and the messaging coming from it is such that writing this first section of the War Room is unavoidable. It would be a complete disservice to all of you for us to live in Pretend-Land for a few days because we still have Tyrone Swoopes/Shane Buechele night-sweats.
The bottom line is that our sourcing, which is deep and varied, was openly talking about this like it was a done deal or something close to that.
A few more notes about the quarterbacks to pass along...
a. As it relates to Ewers, I've heard that he understands that there's an added commitment to the mental side of his craft that is needed and that he's committed to improving.
b. Card has a lot of support in the locker room, including some key veteran pieces of the offensive puzzle. The kid has kept his head down and just kept grinding away when a lot of people thought he should have hit the road and entered the Transfer Portal. Having the job in week one won't mean that he still has it in week 12, but I didn't think it was possible he could win this job. That dude has earned my respect.
c. I don't expect Ewers to run from the competition, even if he's fully aware that he'll soon be taking second-team reps until further notice. One source on Thursday thought that this might simply delay his overall college plans by a year, but there was a good attitude about it all.
d. Another source with knowledge of the competition deadpanned on Thursday afternoon that winning the job might be the worst thing that could happen to either player because of the looming Alabama game.
e. At the end of the day, we're truly at the starting line of this quarterback discussion and not the finish line. Both players understand what each need to do moving forward. Both know that poor execution in games is going to lead to the other player likely getting on the field.
Maybe, just maybe don't set the furniture on fire.
