Former Westlake, Texas QB Sam Ehlinger knows he's far from finished NFL product

INDIANAPOLIS — The way Sam Ehlinger has played this preseason, the numbers he’s putting up, can make it seem like the second-year Colts quarterback is close to a finished product.

A young passer on the verge of realizing his full potential.

Ehlinger piled up big numbers in Indianapolis’ 27-26 loss to Detroit on Saturday, completing 9 of 11 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns in a game filled, by design, with players fighting for roster spots.

“He came up big today on a couple of big plays, had one or two early mistakes, but that’s what he does,” Colts head coach Frank Reich said. “He overcame a mistake, and then next drive, came out and made plays.”

The way the former Westlake and Texas quarterback tells it, he’s in the early stages of the transformation he needs to make to get where he wants to go in the NFL.

A process that kept getting interrupted during his rookie season.

Drafted in the sixth round as a developmental quarterback, Ehlinger found himself thrown into a competition by Carson Wentz’s foot injury, taking regular snaps against the Colts’ starting defense. An injured ACL robbed Ehlinger of half his rookie season, and then he spent the back half of the season as the team’s primary backup.

More:Sam Ehlinger, Dezmon Patmon and what we learned from Colts preseason loss to Lions

Ehlinger was drafted for his makeup, his leadership and his ability to respond to adversity.

But his rookie season moved faster than anybody anticipated. In Year 2, the Colts traded for Matt Ryan and later added veteran Nick Foles to be Ryan’s backup, stabilizing its quarterback room and simultaneously giving Ehlinger a chance to develop at a reasonable rate.

“I have a great opportunity to learn from two guys who have done it, not becoming frustrated with the situation,” Ehlinger said. “Knowing that in the long run, if I want to play in this league for 15 years, I should spend, really, the first three learning. I have a great opportunity to learn and soak up as much information as possible, while still developing physically and not being asked to play on Sundays.”

Ehlinger found out how much he still needs to develop physically this offseason.

From the best.

Colts quarterback Sam Ehlinger worked with Tom House

When the offseason began, Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard told Ehlinger he needed to work with Tom House, the expert on throwing mechanics who’s known for his work with Tom Brady, Drew Brees and a long list of star quarterbacks. The Colts have an excellent relationship with House — he trained Andrew Luck and Jacoby Brissett — and knew he could help Ehlinger get more out of his arm, one of the reasons a tough, natural leader like Ehlinger dropped to the sixth round.

House began tearing Ehlinger’s throwing motion down to the studs in March in order to rebuild it completely.

“Well, there’s a lot of things, starting with my shoulder and the way that it’s shaped, the muscles that are dominating,” Ehlinger said. “That’s just from a functional, fitness, working on the muscular stuff, and then from the biomechanical signature, working on timing. The sequencing of when you want to throw, all the way from the ground up, so working on all of those things, and then working on mechanical variables within that signature. There’s been a lot that’s gone into it.”

The results have been noticeable.

“The guy has worked as hard as anybody on our roster in the offseason, in training camp,” Reich said. “I think his arm not only looks stronger, I think he’s throwing the ball more accurately than he was last year.”

Ehlinger has looked like it this preseason.

The numbers are sparkling — 19-of-22 for 224 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in two games — and there’s also the ball he dropped in to Mike Strachan for a score on Saturday, floating a ball from the pocket, over the head of a defensive back and into the hands of his 6-foot-5 target.

But here’s the thing about the arm.

“I’m just scratching the surface,” Ehlinger said. “It’s kind of like a two-year plan. There’s a lot of neurological things I’m fighting. When you’re out on the field and the chaos around you increases, naturally you’re going to revert back to whatever your nerve wirings in your brain want you to do when you say, ‘Throw the football.’ So I’m fighting what I’ve been doing for years, in thousands of reps. It takes about two years to get those things down.”

Two years of focus, two years of daily grind.

When the Colts quarterbacks take the field each day for practice, Ehlinger always warms up with Ryan, in large part because the 37-year-old has trained with House and warms up with the same drills the younger quarterback has now been doing for five months.

“I know that I need to keep working on those things,” Ehlinger said.

Playing firmly behind Ryan and Foles has given Ehlinger a chance to focus.

Sam Ehlinger focusing while playing behind Matt Ryan and Nick Foles

The Colts have made the quarterbacking depth chart clear in training camp. Unlike last season, when Jacob Eason’s slow start opened a door for Ehlinger to start taking first-team snaps, the Colts have given Ryan, the starter, the majority of the practice snaps, and the lion’s share of what’s remaining has gone to Foles.

Ehlinger and former Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan split the rest.

“It’s been less physical reps,” Ehlinger said. “But that means more mental reps. … Because I’m not in as much, having to worry about my reps, I’m watching defenses.”

Ehlinger first caught the Colts’ attention as a rookie with his ability to absorb the offense, but he is still a young quarterback who makes mistakes. The sparkling numbers aside, Ehlinger has had a few mental mistakes in each preseason game so far, has a tendency to hold onto the ball a beat too long in the pocket and has sometimes run himself into sacks while trying to buy time.

Ehlinger’s mobility can also produce plays like his 50-yard touchdown pass to Dezmon Patmon, who got so wide open while his quarterback was buying time that a throw that hung in the air a little too long still resulted in a touchdown pass.

“Whenever Sam is out there, I know he is going to keep the play alive,” Patmon said. “Be ready on the scramble drill.”

The more Ehlinger develops, the more he will be able to use his mobility at the right times, the more he’ll be throwing with the right mechanics, the more likely he’ll be to make plays right away, rather than bouncing back from mistakes.

Ehlinger knows that.

And that’s why he’s comfortable watching, waiting and learning behind the two accomplished quarterbacks in front of him.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Former Texas and Westlake QB Sam Ehlinger ready for 2022 season