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Paul Finebaum made an eye-opening “best” declaration on Texas football QB Arch Manning. The hype is real for the Longhorns going into the 2025 season as Steve Sarkisian's squad has championship-or-bust expectations. The program is coming off two straight appearances in the College Football Playoff and returning a stacked team around its new QB1. Even though Manning has only started two games for Texas football, he is already being included in some preseason Heisman lists and considered a top prospect for next year's NFL Draft.
Finebaum recently put some even more pressure on the 21-year-old with the following statement.
“I am as married to Arch Manning as an old geezer like me can be to a young, great college quarterback, but I like everything about him, and I think you said something. The Manning name matters, but it isn’t going to matter in that field in a couple of weeks at Ohio State. The experience of being an understudy to Ewers and understanding Sark’s system is what’s going to get them over the top and probably — well, not probably — definitely beat Ohio State in the opener.”
While this statement drew some pushback, Finebaum doesn't believe Manning is the best quarterback in the country. The longtime college football pundit responded to ESPN analyst Heather Dinich's take that Arch will not be at that level in 2025 with a blunt observation on the state of Texas football. However, Finebaum's recent comments might actually come as a sigh of relief to Longhorn fans.
“I agree, but Arch Manning is not some kid you just dropped off on his first day of school; he’s got some background here…but Arch Manning doesn’t need to be the best quarterback because he’s on the best team on both sides of the ball.”
The Longhorns, of course, will be under the microscope in Week 1 and likely will be the No. 1-ranked team in the country with a win in Columbus. After that, Steve Sarkisian's team has a bit of a break in the schedule before traveling to Gainesville to open the SEC slate. From there on out, every game is both winnable and losable depending on the kind of form the Longhorns are in.
Overall, Texas football is exactly where it's supposed to be, contending for championships. The Longhorns made it to the SEC Championship and College Football Playoff semifinal last season, and this group is expected to take that next step under its prodigy QB. There's a long road ahead for this proud program.
