For the second week in a row, Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns lost to an unranked team after an underwhelming fourth quarter. The season has gotten so rough for Manning that CBS analyst Damien Harris has a new name for him.
On the CBS Postgame Show following the Longhorns’ loss to the Florida Gators, Harris declared that he’s no longer going to refer to Arch Manning as “Manning” and will instead only call him “Arch.” He reasoned that the Texas QB “isn’t playing like a Manning” and that he’s getting too much special treatment due to his famous last name.
“Until further notice, I’m just gonna call him Arch. Because if you take away the last name, you have a below-average quarterback. That’s what he is, and that’s how we need to evaluate him moving forward. He does not see the football field well. He does not deliver a pretty football. He is not clean in his [operation]… Mechanics don’t look good. Game management doesn’t look good. Nothing about Arch Manning’s game looks good,” Harris said.
“Arch Manning isn’t playing like a Manning. He’s playing like Arch. So until further notice, he’s known as Arch. We need to stop holding on to his last name saying, ‘We’re expecting more. We want to see more. There’s potential out there.’ No. Arch is a bad quarterback right now. And until he becomes a good or a better quarterback, Arch. That’s all you’re going to get out of me. Arch.”
The Last Name
A number of college football fans agreed that Manning’s family name is likely keeping him from getting benched when many other quarterbacks without a famous surname would probably already be on the pine:
“Facts. He would be on the bench if he didn’t have that last name,” one user replied.
“Finally honest evaluation I don’t think ESPN is capable of doing it because they’re scared of the last name,” another wrote.
“This right here! Too much hype but the eye test never lies,” a third declared.
Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.
Right now, Manning doesn’t have the raw numbers that would even justify making him a first-round draft pick, let alone the consensus No. 1 pick that people expected him to be when he first committed to Texas several years ago.
At this point, an increasing number of analysts and fans are starting to believe he might be better off skipping the 2027 NFL Draft and getting one more year of college football after this just to see if he can finally break through.
But if the bad results keep on coming, a very unpredictable future could await him instead.
