Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, per ESPN's Pete Thamel, who further relayed that the signal-caller has notified the Longhorn coaching staff of his intentions.
Murphy told ESPN's Pete Thamel that he will not stay with Texas for the College Football Playoff:
Pete Thamel @PeteThamelMaalik Murphy told ESPN he's not going to be with the Longhorns in the College Football Playoff. He would have preferred to stay through the season, but the timing did not allow it. Murphy told ESPN: "It's nothing against Texas at all. I'm doing this purely for me and my future.…
That news comes amid reports that both Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning are likely to return to Texas.
Per Bobby Burton of On3.com, there is a "90 percent" chance Ewers will return to the team.
Thamel has done some reporting on the subject, too, writing on Dec. 2 that the chances of Ewers returning "has increased exponentially in the past few weeks."
That leads to speculation on what Manning, a 5-star quarterback and the top recruit in the 2023 class, would end up doing. It appears that he'll end up staying in Texas.
"Obviously, Arch Manning is the name that looms above it all—everybody's interested in Arch," Chris Hummer of 247Sports said on Manning. "Based on everything we've heard, Arch is perfectly happy at Texas. I think the expectation is he will be back in 2024."
That leaves Murphy struggling for future playing time. The redshirt freshman out of Inglewood, California stepped in for an injured Ewers (AC joint sprain, right shoulder) after the starter got hurt late in a 31-24 win over Houston on Oct. 21.
Murphy only threw two fourth-quarter passes but ended up starting the Longhorns' next two games against the BYU Cougars (35-6 win) and Kansas State Wildcats (33-30 overtime win). Overall, he ended the season completing 40-of-71 passes for 477 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.
Ultimately, the 4-star recruit just appears to be the odd man out. Ewers just led Texas to a College Football Playoff berth and would assuredly get his job back next year, and Manning is the quarterback-in-waiting, especially given his pedigree.
But Murphy has plenty of potential and flashed that during his two starts. at 6'5 and 238 pounds, he has great size for a quarterback and can certainly excel elsewhere.
