Arch Manning
Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning entered the season as the favorite to go No. 1 overall in the 2027 NFL Draft, but his draft stock has taken a serious hit following back-to-back losses in which his turnovers proved costly.
After Saturday’s 27-24 home loss to the Florida Gators, analysts and former players did not hold back in their criticisms of Manning. Former Heisman Trophy winner and ESPN analyst Desmon Howard posted a video to Instagram on Monday in which he was just as critical of the young quarterback.
“Happy Monday morning, everybody. What a crazy weekend in college football. I don’t have time to get into all of it. My driveway ain’t that long, but let me talk about the Texas Longhorns and Arch Manning for a minute. You know, Arch Manning reminds me of when I was growing up, playing different sports with different kids, and you got the one kid who comes from a pretty affluent background, nice kid, everyone loves him, but he doesn’t have great talent, right?
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“And so his parents, they go out, and they buy him all the newest equipment. I don’t know if it’s golf, gets him a new, new set of golf clubs, or, you know, if it’s football, he got the latest equipment, the best helmet, but still just doesn’t have all that talent. But you still love him, everybody’s cool with him, and ultimately they find out that no matter what you buy, he ain’t him.
“That’s kind of how I see Arch Manning. Cool kid, everyone loves him. He got some talent, but he ain’t him. And you can take that analogy, and you can use it for the Texas Longhorns as a team too. You’re talking about a roster; it’s about a $50 million roster.
“Hmm, you do the math, baby.”
Texas is giving first-team reps to backup KJ Lacey Jr. in practice this week. Manning hasn’t lost his job as the starter yet, but he’s clearly going to have to turn things around, and quickly.
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