Before the start of the 2025 college football season, many fans defaulted to Texas quarterback Arch Manning as the top prospect of the 2026 NFL Draft. Nine games into the year, that has hardly been the case, with FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt believing Manning still needs a few more years in college.
Klatt not only believes that Manning should stay at Texas for one more season, but he feels that the 21-year-old should play two more years of college football. Manning has just 11 starts under his belt, and Klatt feels that he needs “20 more” before being ready for the NFL.
“Arch is a decent to average college football quarterback early in his career,” Klatt said on ‘The Herd w/ Colin Cowherd.' “He's gonna need at least 20 more starts to be even remotely ready for the National Football League.”
"He's gonna need at least 20 more starts to be even remotely ready for the National Football League."@jasonrmcintyre and @joelklatt talk about what it will take for Texas QB Arch Manning to be NFL ready pic.twitter.com/jzMEj9rWDS
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) November 5, 2025
The analyst feels that there is no way to “replicate” the quarterback position and that Manning needs more reps before reaching the next level. According to Klatt, most players need about 30 college football starts to thrive at the next level, and Manning is not the super prospect that everyone wanted him to be.
“You can't replicate the position [of quarterback] anywhere other than on the field, live in games. As he's starting to develop, as he's starting to start more games, you're starting to see him get a little bit better. We all thought he was going to come out and be a gangbuster and be Trevor Lawrence right away, and it didn't happen.”
Texas quarterback Arch Manning's NFL outlook
As a redshirt sophomore, Manning is eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft if he desires. However, even with a strong end to the year, that would seem to be an ill-advised move, considering his current draft stock.
While he seemed like a surefire first-round pick in the preseason, Manning is barely on draft boards in November. A team could take a late-round flier on him on Day Three, but Manning would likely be cutting his career short by entering the draft.
Since the start of the season, Manning has been surpassed as an NFL prospect by Indiana's Fernando Mendoza, Alabama's Ty Simpson and Oregon's Dante Moore. Even South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers, who has also had a disappointing season, remains ahead of him on most draft boards, along with Miami's Carson Beck.
