After finding success last year with the addition of well-traveled veteran quarterback Matthew Caldwell, the Texas Longhorns made a similar addition on Thursday with the unexpected signing of former Coastal Carolina Chanticleers quarterback MJ Morris.
The 6”1, 208-pounder has one season of eligibility remaining.
Unlike Caldwell, however, who was an overlooked recruit out of high school, Morris was a pretty well-regarded prospect, finishing the 2022 cycle as a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 417 player nationally and the No. 25 quarterback, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Out of Carrollton in Georgia, Morris signed with NC State over 33 over offers, including Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, and Texas A&M, among others.
As a freshman in Raleigh, Morris showed promise, throwing three touchdowns off the bench to lead NC State to a win over Virginia Tech and becoming the first freshman to start a game at quarterback for the Wolfpack since Philip Rivers in 2000 against the Demon Deacons. Morris also earned ACC Freshman of the Week honors for that performance, in which he threw for three more touchdowns. Morris finished the season 52-of-68 passing for 648 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception after his season ended due to injury against Boston College.
In 2023, Morris started multiple games again for NC State, though he saw drops in his completion percentage and yards per attempt while throwing five interceptions against seven touchdowns.
After the season, Morris entered the NCAA transfer portal for the first time, landing at Maryland, where he served as the backup quarterback for the Terps. Morris appeared in seven games, starting once, and completing 36-of-61 passes for 350 yards and five touchdowns and five interceptions.
Into the portal again, Morris ended up at Coastal Carolina, where he served as the backup quarterback, appearing in four games and completing 35-of-60 passes for 304 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions.
Morris has also run for 146 yards and two touchdowns in his college career.
On the Forty Acres, Morris will serve in a similar role as Caldwell did, competing for the backup job with two inexperienced young quarterbacks in rising redshirt freshman KJ Lacey, who completed his only pass for seven yards last season, and incoming freshman Dia Bell, a consensus five-star prospect ranked as the No. 9 player nationally and the No. 4 quarterback, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
And although Morris has some decision-making issues in terms of putting the ball at risk consistently over his last three seasons, like Caldwell did, he provides a higher floor than Lacey and his presence should ensure that there is not a situation in which Bell would have to burn his redshirt.
