Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning is once again one of the preseason Heisman Trophy favorites alongside Notre Dame Fighting Irish star CJ Carr. Manning endured a mixed season last year after being declared the preseason Heisman favorite as the Longhorns missed out on a College Football Playoff berth.
Analyst Pumps the Brakes on Arch Manning Hype
During Wednesday’s segment of CBS Sports’ college football podcast, analyst Brandon Marcello pumped the brakes on the Manning hype machine.
“I hear some people go, ‘Maybe Arch Manning should be up there.’ I don’t agree with that at all,” Marcello said. “With Arch Manning in a lot of ways, you’re just projecting onto him. You’re kind of hoping that he ends up becoming great. He’s not great yet. Arch Manning’s not worthy of being up there as a first-team All-American at this point.”
Marcello dug into Manning’s numbers and debated why the Texas standout did not deserve to be a First-team All-American over Oregon’s Dante Moore.
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“Completion percentage just over 60%, that’s good. The TD-interception ratio, that’s good,” Marcello said. “The rush touchdowns, that’s good. But when you dig deeper into those numbers, the rush touchdowns are high because they didn’t have a running game at Texas last year. He led the team in rushing TDs out of necessity. He had a great end of the season.
“He was 7-1, he only threw two interceptions over the last eight games, but eight games doesn’t make a season and so we’re projecting more with Arch Manning and wanting him to be an All-American and putting him on there. And I’m glad that everybody came together and we put Dante Moore at No. 1. He’s deserving of that spot.”
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Manning has been in the spotlight since committing to Texas as a five-star talent and the No. 1-ranked prospect in the class of 2023. The quarterback is the nephew of NFL legends Peyton and Eli Manning and the grandson of the iconic Archie Manning.
Despite his celebrity, Manning had to fight his way up the Longhorns’ QB depth chart. He settled for a role as Quinn Ewers’ backup until he left for the NFL via the draft last year.
Manning’s first year as a full-time starter did not go as planned, as the Longhorns struggled in the first half of the season. By the time Manning and Texas righted the ship, the season had gotten away from them.
He led the Longhorns to seven wins in their last eight games and finished the season strongly. In that stretch of games, Manning tallied 15 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, beating four ranked teams as well.
The Texas star earned a PFN College QB Impact score of 83.1 after registering 3,163 passing yards on 61.4% completion, 26 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, adding 399 rushing yards and 10 scores for the Longhorns last season.
