After starting the 2026 regular college football season with four straight wins, the Texas Longhorns suffered back-to-back 27-24 losses to unranked teams, the Oklahoma Sooners and the Florida Gators, to fall from No. 1 to No. 19 in the AP Top 25.
Underlining those troubles, quarterback Arch Manning’s play in the last couple of weeks has seen a significant dip, with the college football fraternity calling out the Texas signal-caller. Meanwhile, redshirt freshman KJ Lacey is reportedly going to get more first-team reps in practice, and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said on Monday that the team needs “a better version of Arch Manning.”
As Texas (4-2, 1-2 SEC) navigates its next steps, CBS analyst Pete Prisco opined on Monday that if Manning decides to play collegiate football for another season, the quarterback should move to a different program. In response on the “CBS College Football Show,” Ron Carthon suggested that Manning join an ACC program known for fostering transfer quarterback talent.
“If Arch goes back to school, and the reality is he probably should go back to school, I don’t think he should go back to Texas if Sark is the coach. I think he needs to go somewhere else and find out what it’s like in a different system to be able to play. Because I don’t think for whatever reason it’s not working in this system, and if he goes somewhere else and he stinks, then we know it’s him. If he goes somewhere else and he’s really good, then we know there was a major problem with the Texas system,” Prisco said (Timestamp: 0:00).
“In that scenario, Arch Manning to Miami. Miami has shown over the last couple of years that they have been a ‘firm’ system for quarterbacks. We had Cam Ward (a Washington State transfer). We had Carson Beck (a Georgia transfer). he revitalized his career last year. we see what Darian Mensah (a Duke transfer) is doing. This offense that they’re running down at the University of Miami allows these guys to mature and actually learn on the job,” Carthon said (0:30).
Having redshirted in his true freshman year in 2023, Manning still has one year of eligibility left and could return to college football as a fifth-year senior.
Meanwhile, Miami (6-0), which played for the national title last season before falling to Indiana, has taken over the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25.
Arch Manning Falls Outside Top Five Quarterbacks In 2027 NFL Draft Projections
After starting the 2026 college football season with a string of impressive performances, there were talks of quarterback Arch Manning becoming one of the top prospects of the 2027 NFL draft.
However, his recent run has dampened these talks, with the latest projections — such as ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.’s mock 2027 NFL draft board rankings released earlier this week — placing Manning in the 24th spot as quarterback No. 6. Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State), Darian Mensah (Miami), Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss), CJ Carr (Notre Dame) and Austin Simmons (Missouri) occupy the first five spots in Kiper’s projected quarterback picks.
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