It’s hardly ever PFR has a deep catalogue of posts on a university player before they’re drafted. Normally a prospect has a couple of visits registered, possibly a Prospect Profile. Texas quarterback Arch Manning, though, has been heavily featured for over a 12 months now, and he’s still slightly below a 12 months away from possibly being drafted. Draft pundits over-anticipated Manning’s early potential a 12 months ago, but some recent reports from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer made an try and halt the hype.
In no way is anyone under the illusion that Manning is a foul quarterback, but a 12 months after he was being prematurely heralded as a future No. 1 overall pick, Breer sought the opinions of NFL personnel professionals to gauge Manning’s outlook for next 12 months. For the time being, Manning is widely viewed as (not great) NFL prospect on the quarterback position. It doesn’t mean he’ll stay that way, but NFL decision makers aren’t going to be blinded by the nameplate on the back of his jersey and forego evaluations.
Initial high expectations weren’t completely unwarranted after Manning displayed some strong performances in Austin as a backup to Quinn Ewers. As a redshirt freshman, Manning lived as much as his last name in early garbage time snaps against Colorado State and UTSA. Over those two contests, he accomplished 14 of 18 pass attempts for 318 passing yards and five touchdown passes, adding 53 rushing yards and two more scores on the bottom. His first two starts got here as a consequence of a Ewers injury, and after a shaky starting debut against Louisiana-Monroe (15-for-19, 258 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions), he turned things around with a powerful SEC debut against Mississippi State (26-for-31, 325 yards, two passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown).
Starting the his 2025 campaign under the brightest of spotlights, Manning resembled the version of himself that struggled against the Warhawks. Over the primary five games of the season, he accomplished under 60 percent of his passes in three contests, throwing 11 touchdowns to 5 interceptions and losing two of those games. Over the subsequent eight games, Manning looked far more just like the man that walked the Bulldogs. Even in two games over that stretch during which he accomplished lower than 50 percent of his passes, Manning stayed mistake-free with no interceptions while pulling out wins in each games.
That appeared to be the important thing for Manning and the thing scouts were relieved to see. Despite his early struggles against subpar competition, Manning showed improvement from week to week. He continued to indicate more poise within the pocket, allowing plays to develop as designed and trusting the talents of himself and his offensive line. That said, his consistency with accuracy may benefit from an enormous step forward, and his decision-making under pressure continues to be a priority. If he continues to enhance week after week again this 12 months, there’s no reason he can’t proceed to brighten his future.
How vivid can that future get, though? While Manning can have every opportunity to follow within the footsteps of his uncles, who were each No. 1 overall picks out of their respective SEC schools, he is much from being considered a sure thing. Breer’s NFL source compared Manning to a former No. 1 overall pick that replaced a Manning because the franchise QB in Indianapolis, Andrew Luck. Luck was considered to be “freaky smart, a freaky athlete” with a particularly high floor. While Manning’s floor isn’t considered to be necessarily low, it’s not as high as Luck’s, Along with his current abilities and knack for improving, though, there’s belief Manning’s ceiling could match those of Luck and his ancestors.
With the Manning-hype being lowered to a simmer, Breer offers that Oregon passer Dante Moore is currently viewed as “the highest guy going into the 2026 college season.” So far as ceilings go, Moore’s may not reach those of Luck and even Manning, but last 12 months, he showed much more consistency than Manning and was even considered a possible first-round option on this 12 months’s draft before ultimately opting to return to highschool.