Getty Image / Tim Warner
Texas quarterback Arch Manning, member of a family filled with quarterback royalty, is set to make his first career college start this weekend as the Longhorns take on Louisiana-Monroe. With Quinn Ewers battling an abdominal injury, Manning will run the Longhorn offense.
Many were surprised when Manning didn’t transfer after his true freshman season when Quinn Ewers announced he was going to return to Texas. But, the Manning’s are being patient, and Pat McAfee added some context as to just how patient they’re being with Arch’s development.
When Arch Manning committed to Texas over Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, and others, the Manning’s knew that Quinn Ewers was at Texas and would be the starter there for at least a year. But, the family, with his dad being Cooper, grandfather Archie, and uncles Peyton and Eli, had the right idea and valued quarterback development under a guru like Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian over everything.
While some think that Arch may keep the job after Ewers is healthy again in a few weeks, that seems unlikely. According to Pat McAfee, the Manning family is fine with that.
https://twitter.com/patmcafeeshow/status/1837174326279147573?s=46&t=0UqNEpQQJYHVzdYpIGNiBg
“I reached out to the Manning family.,one of my sources in the Manning family said this, ‘we are old school. You never lose your job from an injury. It will get handled. Everybody assumes that Arch is on this fast track to the NFL. That is not true. We are in no hurry. He wants to develop. He wants to stay in Sark’s system. He decided to go there, knowing that Quinn Ewers was going to be there.'”
That’s the right approach to the situation. Arch was a consensus top-five prospect in the Class of 2023. But, his high school competition level wasn’t the best, and both of his uncles and his grandfather stayed all four years in college.
That being said, this wouldn’t even be a conversation had Arch not lit the world on fire last week. He was 9-12 for 223 yards while filling in after the injury to Ewers against UTSA. He added 53 yards and a touchdown on 3 carries, including a 67-yard touchdown run. Sacks count against rushing yards in college football, unlike in the NFL, hence the total yardage being less than his touchdown run.
Ultimately, no matter what the Manning family says, I wouldn’t expect the hype to die down.