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Texas' Arch Manning pushes back on grandfather Archie Manning's NFL draft claim

Texas football quarterback Arch Manning is 11 days away from his debut as the Longhorns' full-time starting quarterback vs. No. 2 Ohio State, kicking off a highly anticipated road to the NFL draft.

But on Tuesday, Aug. 19, the Longhorns' first-year starter had to address his future plans after his grandfather, former Ole Miss and New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning, had said earlier this month that NFL teams shouldn't expect his grandson to be available next April.

"Yeah, I don't know where he got that from," Arch Manning told assembled media on Aug. 19. "He texted me and apologized about that, but I'm really just taking it day by day right now."

Archie Manning had previously told Texas Monthly he doesn't anticipate his grandson leaving Texas after just one season starting for the Longhorns.

"Arch isn’t going to do that," Archie Manning said. "He’ll be at Texas."

Arch Manning is eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft, as he has been out of high school for three seasons. The former No. 1-ranked player in the 2023 recruiting class, according to 247Sports Composite, redshirted his true freshman season with the Longhorns in 2023.

Archie Manning exhausted his eligibility at Ole Miss before going No. 2 overall to the New Orleans Saints in the 1971 NFL Draft. Arch Manning's uncles, Peyton and Eli Manning, also exhausted their eligibility before being selected No. 1 overall in the 1998 and 2004 NFL drafts, respectively.



The 6-foot-4 quarterback started two games last season for Texas while Quinn Ewers was out with an injury. In 10 games last year, which included coming in for occasional snaps in the postseason, Arch Manning completed 67.8% of his passes for 939 yards and nine touchdowns.

His first task as the Longhorns' starting quarterback will be a challenging one, as Texas is set to travel to No. 2 Ohio State in Week 1 to open the season. On top of having to deal with the Buckeyes' overall defense, Arch Manning will have to contend against an Ohio State secondary that includes star safety Caleb Downs, one of the top players at his position in the country.

Texas is scheduled for a noon ET kickoff against Ohio State on Saturday, Aug. 30 in Columbus, Ohio at Ohio Stadium.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...0431007/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

It does certainly appear to be a very promising QB draft class. Which was my motivation for wanting the FO to wait to draft a QB highly in the draft. Not only did they wait but gave themselves even more ammunition to take advantage of that situation. Of course I'm sure we both hope they have found a diamond in the rough in one of the rookies so they can address other needs. But history dictates those odds are slim.

There has simply been a huge amount of speculation about whether Arch was going to come out next year and with his grandpa's statement most everyone thought him staying in school was a foregone conclusion. It appears now that may not be the case. Even Haslam addressed Arch entering the draft next year...........

The thing about Manning, to me, is that he couldn't even beat out quinn Ewers. No idea how that will translate, but he hasn't proven much yet

I found that interesting as well.. though a lot of my Texas friends thought he should have started…. I’ve seen him a bit and thought he looked ok… will be interesting to see how he does this year… poor kid has to have a ton of pressure on him…

I would say before any of them start talking about staying in college or going in the draft, the smart thing to do would be: PLAY. Start for the year. Heaven forbid you get hurt. Heaven forbid you stink. Kudo's if you light it up. But, if he were my son or grandson, I wouldn't be talking about the draft before he's ever started, let alone finished 1 year as a starter.

There was never a competition. Sark was loyal to Ewers and Manning (and the family) knew he would takeover afterwards.

Arch Manning will play two more years in college and then declare in 2027. All the Manning's graduate college. This goes back to Archie Manning making a promise to his mother to graduate college. Not to mention, Arch will (likely) make more in NIL than he will in the NFL his rookie year. He's young, he has time. For over a year, there is next to nobody in the college football world that truly believes he will come out in 2026. It's an NFL narrative.

The Manning family understands how to plan for long term success. There is no desperation for money or to rush his career.

Discussing with the media based on what Grandpa Manning said is nothing more than the Manning's being media savvy. Keep them guessing and be the center of the college football world! Show business.

We'll see. In football terms that is a long way off.

Money was a big driver for players to exit college and enter the draft. The Manning family has boatloads of money so Arch was never going to be the player locked in his room surviving on tubs of Raman noodles. I think I read somewhere that Arch is getting nearly $10 million in NIL money. No matter the actual amount, it is pretty substantial.

I agree.

Unfortunately, when your last name is Manning, they are going to ask the question. I took it more as him making a rather dry joke than saying anything about his plans.

I’m thinking that we will pick up a couple of DB’s when cuts are made. There has to be a vet or 2 that can help us out. I think our LB’s will be pretty good too.

I don't recall seeing Manning play, other than maybe a few highlights, but when looking at his stats, his more productive games don't seem to be against real strong teams. Doesn't mean he won't be great, but it's not enough for me at his point to say tank for the guy. Let him play a bit.

I feel the same about Aller, although he has more experience. I didn't get the excitement for this guy as when I saw he saw him play he looked lost and ineffective. So I looked at his stats and was surprised by the high cumulative numbers. Then I looked game by game and when he faced good defenses his numbers were pedestrian. Again, another season of experience this year may make a huge difference,

I'm not saying anything about any of that. There has just been a lot of chatter about him. As I pointed out even Haslam himself made a comment about him. He is the starter this season so I guess we'll get a chance to see just how good he is or isn't.

He could end up being way over hyped and end up a fifth round draft pick for all I know. Things like that have happened. lol I just know it's been a hot topic for discussion and before he made that statement everyone though there was zero chance of him coming out in the 2025 NFL draft. Now it's anyone's guess.

It all starts next Saturday when he faces the Buckeyes. So to some extent this is about that match up as well. He'll be facing nationally ranked talent right out of the gate.

OSU will face Texas on Saturday, August 30th at noon on FOX.

I wasn't directing my comments at anyone in particular. Just my thoughts regarding AM & Aller. I just think it's pretty early for QB draft talk but I know fans love it. I remember some posters wanting us to tank for Geno Smuth before his final college season.

I remember Archie Manning. Came out in 1969-1970 I believe to a lousy Saints team but played well. Finished up with the Oilers I think. Never had much talent around him. If he played for a talented team there's no telling what he could have accomplished.

Me too Bone. That Texas-Ohio State game is a great way to start the College football season.

yeah, love the fact that they play week 1

I will be as well. I'm doing it because of the situation and the numbers. Odds don't always work. That's why sometimes people win by picking long shots. But most times the odds work which is how you figure the odds in the first place. As such third and fifth round QB picks in the NFL draft don't usually work. That doesn't mean they can't or won't. It's just if they do you have certainly beat the odds by a long shot.

When you combine that with the fact the Browns manipulated the draft in such a way they added a first round pick and the strength of the upcoming QB draft class, this season, for me bears watching the top ranked college QB's.

While it's certainly just my opinion, we agree on all counts.

I agree .. we have extra reason to watch some college ball this year