To be completely honest, I did not expect Arch Manning to look as big as Bryce Underwood. I assumed that when you put the starting quarterback at Michigan next to the starting quarterback at Texas, the former would make the latter look minuscule in comparison.
I was wrong!
The two high-profile college football signal-callers spent the day together prior to the Citrus Bowl. They are both large human beings but they are not too dissimilar in size.
Bryce Underwood and Arch Manning are the same size, ish.
One of the biggest knocks on the son of Cooper Manning out of high school was his frame. Although he had the height to play on the next level, his weight did not match.
Arch Manning weighed somewhere around 190/200 pounds when he arrived to Texas as a true freshman in 2023. The 21-year-old redshirt sophomore added more than 20 pounds over the last two years. His body transformation was on full display at spring practice back in March. He looked the part!
The Longhorns list him on the roster at 6-foot-4, 219 pounds.
Bryce Underwood, a true freshman, had the opposite problem from Manning when he first arrived to Michigan. A viral photo of his portruding gut at bowl practices last year created some concerns that he might be too heavy. He actually found the extra poundage makes him faster and more explosive.
The Wolverines list him on the roster at 6-foot-4, 228 pounds. (As an 18-year-old!)
10 pounds is a big difference. Especially at the quarterback position. I know. But the two Citrus Bowl quarterbacks are more or less the same size. It’s close enough.
Both quarterbacks are big.
Maybe it is just me, but, despite how they are listed on their respective rosters, I still expected Bryce Underwood to be much bigger than Arch Manning when they got together in person. Especially given all of the chatter about him being a “freak of nature” and all that stuff. I mean, they call him Superman.
Well, he isn’t!
The starting quarterbacks from Texas and Michigan spent the morning together on Monday. Neither guy looked smaller than the other.
Underwood might have a slight advantage but it really isn’t much.
They both fit on the rollercoasters! Neither guy was too small to ride this ride.
There you have it. Arch Manning and Bryce Underwood are big dudes. Now you know.