Nowadays, many college quarterbacks destined for the NFL try their best to get themselves in the best position to be drafted as soon as possible. But according to former NFL quarterback Drew Brees, this may not be the best approach.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning has gone about things a little differently. As a top recruit in his high school class, many expected Manning to see the field right away, which has not been the case to this point.
Instead, Manning has opted to learn behind quarterback Quinn Ewers at Texas under the tutelage of head coach Steve Sarkisian, who has a reputation for developing quarterbacks for the NFL level.
Ultimately, Drew Brees believes that this is a smart decision for Manning. But he took things even further, calling for Manning to stay at Texas for the entirety of his five years of eligibility.
“The best thing for Arch Manning to do is to spend five years at the University of Texas,” Brees said in a recent conversation with The Athletic. “I’ll pause and let everybody just absorb that.”
Brees further explained why he believes this is the best thing for Manning to do, saying that too many quarterbacks don’t have enough experience coming into the NFL.
“To me, it takes at least 50 high-quality starts before you are really ready to kind of take it to the next level as a quarterback. And so, there’s plenty of guys who have been drafted in the top 10 picks over the years who, man, they only started 10 games, 12 games, 15 games in college. Yes, there’s all this upside. Or man, they can throw the ball a mile. There’s all this talent, there’s this, there’s that, and, man, they get in the NFL and they struggle, right?
“It’s because they just don’t have a lot of experience, and they’re not really given an opportunity to grow and develop, because you’re now in a league where it’s your job and they’re expected to win.”
Only time will tell whether Manning will ultimately benefit from sitting on the bench at Texas.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.