MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said in January that “every stone will be unturned” as the team focused on its backup quarterback position this offseason, especially after starter Tua Tagovailoa missed a career-high six games in 2024.

After signing veteran Zach Wilson in free agency, Miami added another big-name player to its quarterbacks room Saturday, selecting Texas’ Quinn Ewers in the seventh round of the NFL draft.

Ewers was the nation’s No. 2 overall recruit coming out of Southlake (Texas) Carroll. ESPN had him as the seventh-ranked quarterback in this year’s draft class, and he ended up being the 13th QB taken. Grier said he and coach Mike McDaniel first met Ewers at Texas’ pro day in 2024 and came away impressed after speaking with Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian.

“Sark really likes him and was high on him, talking about him playing through the injuries this year — which affected his play a little bit,” Grier said. “But [Sarkisian] talked about his toughness, his mental toughness pushing through with the injury, the expectations, all the pressure with [Arch] Manning there coming in. He loved his competitiveness and how he plays, and how his teammates respond to him. So, he was someone that we always had an eye on and the opportunity at that point in the draft just made sense for us.”

Ewers threw for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns against 24 interceptions in three seasons with Texas, completing 64.9% of his passes. He finished his career as the Longhorns’ all-time leader in yards and touchdown passes after leading them to a 21-5 record over the past two seasons and consecutive College Football Playoff appearances

His 2024 season was affected by an oblique tear and a high ankle sprain. He has said he was completely healthy for just three games in 2024 and that the oblique injury started after the Michigan game in September. He missed two games and then suffered the ankle injury against Kentucky in November. For the past two seasons, he held off prized recruit Manning, the nephew of former Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, for Texas’ starting job.

Ewers said the pressure of warding off a top recruit while playing for one of the nation’s most demanding programs helped strengthen him in the long run.

“I think it shows how mentally tough I am,” Ewers said Saturday. “I enjoy going through adversity because I know I have a plan of attack. Anything that happened to me my last college years, I knew was only going to help me.”

Ewers will compete with Wilson for the Dolphins’ backup role this summer. He’s the second quarterback they’ve drafted in the past three years; Miami took Skylar Thompson in the seventh round of the 2022 draft, and he went on to start three games as a rookie, including a playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills.