The Texas Longhorns have been struggling of late, barely beating Tennessee, losing two straight games, and Arch Manning has struggled to lead the offense in the last few games. As a result, Manning’s draft stock has taken a hit, and Texas has gone down from No. 1 to No. 19 in the AP Top 25 in just two weeks.
Now, ESPN’s Pete Thamel is reporting that backup quarterback KJ Lacey Jr. has been getting more first-team quarterback reps, though he noted that Arch Manning would likely still be the QB1 but could be replaced if he continues to struggle.
With Texas struggling and Arch Manning not playing as well as expected, many are also pinning the blame on Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. One of them is insider Graham Coffey, who blasted the Texas head coach in a very long post on social media:
“The entire Arch Manning – Texas marriage will go down as a case study in how to mismanage a young QB. If Sark crashes out this season, the last week will be a microcosm of why Texas keeps squandering super talented rosters,” he wrote. “Last week he tells us Arch would be praised if he didn’t have a different last name. A few days later he says Arch’s job status is up for evaluation. Nobody in college football draws a wider range of headlines than Arch Manning, and his coach consistently pours gasoline on that fire.”
This comes after Sarkisian defended Arch Manning after the loss against Florida, before saying that he was evaluating the quarterback’s performance and not ruling out benching him. This then led to Lacey getting more first-team reps.
Arch Manning Draft Stock Falling
After his performance against then-No. 1 Ohio State during Week 2, Arch Manning became one of the favorites to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. Kalshi had Manning at 31% back then, but after struggling against UTSA and Tennessee and then the two straight losses against Oklahoma and Florida, he has been plummeting steadily, according to Sports Illustrated.
In those two losses, he had a total of 433 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, and two interceptions, but he also got sacked seven times. For now, Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith remains the favorite as Manning continues to fall.
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