Arch Manning has only started two games in his college football career. However, that hasn’t prevented top NFL Draft experts from declaring the Texas quarterback as the top prospect in the 2026 class.
But as some wonder if Manning will declare for the 2026 NFL Draft, he’s keeping his focus on Texas’ 2025 season.
“I’m really just worried about getting through this interview and then getting through the run tomorrow,” Manning told reporters when asked if he’s given any thought about entering the 2026 NFL Draft during SEC Media Days on Tuesday. “I’m just focused on this year and getting better each day.”
Not only has Manning been viewed as the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, but some have considered him to be one of the top quarterback prospects in recent memory. FOX Sports’ Bucky Brooks wrote in May that Manning is more talented than his uncles, Peyton and Eli Manning, as he ranked him as his No. 1 quarterback for the 2026 draft class.
[Related: Ranking 2026 QB draft class: Is Arch Manning clear-cut No. 1 of a stacked bunch?]
With the possibility of Manning, who is a redshirt sophomore, declaring for the draft after the season looming, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is hoping that he plays well enough in 2025 to make a tough choice.
“I just want the guy to have a really good season this year, and we’ll cross that bridge when he comes to it,” Sarkisian told reporters on Tuesday. “I hope he has a really hard decision to make, because that means he played really good.”
The hype surrounding Manning began before he even arrived in Austin. He was ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, and his last name only added to the buzz surrounding his recruitment.
But Manning mostly sat on the bench for his first two seasons at Texas, with Quinn Ewers starting for the Longhorns and leading them to the College Football Playoff in each of the last two years. As he moves into a starting role for the 2025 season, Manning admits that going from highly sought-after high school recruit to the Texas backup quarterback wasn’t an easy transition.
Arch Manning took part in SEC Media Days on Tuesday. (Photo by Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“This is not really a big deal, but I played every year in high school,” Manning said on Tuesday at SEC Media Days. “It was a 2-A high school. That doesn’t mean anything, but from sitting out and not playing, that was pretty tough.”
Manning passed for 939 yards and nine touchdowns and ran for four touchdowns last season, making the first two starts of his college football career when Ewers suffered an injury early in the season. He could have seen the field earlier had he gone elsewhere. But in an era where college athletes have newfound maneuverability thanks to the transfer portal — and the ability strike lucrative deals at interested schools — the quarterback chose to ride it out.
“[Transferring] never really crossed my mind,” Manning said. “I knew Texas was the place I wanted to be. It was the city I wanted to be in, a great education. I had friends there. I was still developing and growing as a football player and a person. So I never really wanted to leave. If there was somewhere else I wanted to be, I would have gone.”
Two years since first arriving in Austin, his days of watching offensive possessions from the sideline are likely behind him. Ewers moved on and up, drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round in April, passing the torch to the newest playmaker in one of football’s most famous families.
Manning’s confidence masks the simple fact that the most talked-about player in college football has played in just 12 career games going into the Aug. 30 season-opener at Ohio State (on FOX and the FOX Sports app), the defending national champion and the team that beat the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl last January. Now that the wait is over, coach Steve Sarkisian thinks he is ready.
“He’s got an unbelievable work ethic. And I think, if he stays true to himself, that’s going to help him navigate these waters as they present themselves,” Sarkisian said. “I think he’s prepared for the moment, but now it’s just time for him to go do it and enjoy doing it quite frankly.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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