Arch Manning took over as the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns last month when starter Quinn Ewers went down with an injury, and he’s been quite impressive – even to the experts.
Private quarterback trainer Quincy Avery has worked with a number of NFL stars like C.J. Stroud, Justin Fields, Jordan Love, and Deshaun Watson. He knows how to evaluate quarterback play, and he did not hold back his true thoughts on Arch Manning during a recent interview with Sporting News.
“Arch has far exceeded my expectations,” Avery told Sporting News. “I watched him in high school, and he played against a lot of guys that didn’t have the talent to play at the level he was going to play at. We didn’t really see him against top-tier competition. I didn’t say glowing things about him when he was in high school. I wasn’t like a lot of people saying, ‘he’s the No. 1 quarterback coming out of high school.’ But watching him play now, they were right. He is really good, he’s been able to pick up the speed.”
Avery has been particularly impressed by Manning’s athleticism which he’s shown on some long runs.
“He’s a far better athlete than I could have ever anticipated,” Avery said. “You saw him playing against the guys he was playing against. You’re like, ‘Well, I think it’s just who he’s playing against, right? He may not be the athlete that we think he is.’ But no, once he got out on the field, he is every bit the athlete.”
Avery also thinks that the time sitting on the bench and learning from Ewers has served Manning well.
“That year of sitting was phenomenal for his growth,” Avery said. “A lot of the ways we see Patrick Mahomes, Patrick Mahomes was talented enough but didn’t necessarily have the fundamentals necessary to play in the NFL when he got there.
“Arch is the exact opposite. We didn’t know if he was talented enough to get on the field when he first got there, but he’s got all the fundamentals. [By sitting], he gets to get brought up to speed, he gets to play against guys at Texas every day in practice, and now when we see him in the game — he’s who we want to see. Not sure he was ready right away, but we know he’s ready now.”
Manning has been undeniably impressive, but Ewers is set to take back the starting job this week as the team takes on the rival Oklahoma Sooners.
