Not long ago, Arch Manning was the presumed next king of football. Heisman Trophy, the NFL Draft's No. 1 overall pick, you name it. But the Texas football star has struggled as the Longhorns' starter, and that's reflected in Mel Kiper's inaugural 2026 Big Board.
Less than two months after Manning was frequently discussed as the projected first draft pick in 2026, Kiper didn't even list Manning among the 13 quarterbacks he ranked as part of the first edition of his Big Board.
Instead, Oregon's Dante Moore is at the top of the list, with Indiana's Fernando Mendoza, Alabama's Ty Simpson, South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers, and Oklahoma's John Mateer rounding out the top five. Interestingly, highly anticipated prospects Garrett Nussmeier of LSU and Drew Allar of Penn State are in the bottom half of the top 10 after a poor first half — and in Allar's case, also a season-ending injury — of the 2025 season.
Unlike many of the other quarterbacks, including Allar and Nussmeier, Manning has not exhausted his collegiate eligibility. In fact, he has quite a bit of time left if he wants it.
A 21-year-old New Orleans native, Manning redshirted his freshman year at Texas in 2023, having played two games and thrown five passes. Last season, he appeared in 10 games, starting two, and showed promise as Quinn Ewers' backup.
With Ewers off to the NFL, Manning became the Longhorns' starter, and despite preseason expectations rarely seen before for an inexperienced player like Manning, he proved unable to meet the moment in a 14-7 season-opening loss to Ohio State on the road. The performance largely derailed the hype train in Columbus, and subsequent poor showings vs. UTEP and Florida only reinforced the need to be patient with the heir to the Manning dynasty.
If Manning stays at Texas past this year, which is what his grandfather, College Football Hall of Famer Archie Manning, said was going to happen three months ago, Arch will have two years of eligibility remaining. If he were to start every game the rest of this season and the next two, the oft-criticized prospect could end up getting 40 or more starts under his proverbial belt before turning pro.
Before any of that can happen, though, Manning and Texas, who defeated archrival Oklahoma last week, will head to Lexington to face Kentucky this weekend.
