Former five-star prospect Arch Manning – the nephew of NFL legends Peyton and Eli Manning – has spent his first two seasons of college football sitting behind Quinn Ewers with the Texas Longhorns. But it seems like Texas is finally set to move forward with him as the starter.
Although Texas Longhorns starting quarterback Quinn Ewers has yet to make a formal announcement regarding his future, ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel reports that he is widely expected to declare for the NFL Draft.
“Sources close to Ewers reiterated to ESPN that the ‘overwhelming likelihood’ is that Ewers will declare for the NFL draft,” Thamel wrote for ESPN.
“Heading into 2023, that had been the plan for Ewers,” Thamel added. “But injuries slowed him in that season, and he and his camp decided that not having 25 starts could hurt his long-term development. (NFL data shows that’s a line of demarcation for quarterback development.)”
Ewers declined to completely confirm his decision to Thamel, stating simply, “We’ll see.” However, he did tell Thamel that he does not anticipate returning to college football next season.
Even if Ewers were to return to college football, he is not expected to return to Texas. There has been much speculation about a potential lucrative NIL deal that could convince Ewers to transfer from Texas and sign with another program, though Ewers downplayed those rumors.
“Haven’t even paid attention to it,” Ewers said. “I’m not really sure what’s going on.”
With Ewers set to leave Texas, Arch Manning will finally get his chance to lead the Longhorns.
Manning was the top-rated player in the 2023 high school recruiting class. While he has been behind Ewers on the depth chart throughout his first two years, he has seen plenty of action.
This season, Manning started two games in place of Ewers after he went down for an injury. After Ewers returned, he was used throughout the rest of the season in special packages as the Longhorns made use of his athleticism and running ability.
Going forward, however, this will be Manning’s team. We’ll have to see how he performs.
