Texas QB Arch Manning is 3-0 with a signature win over Ohio State and seven TD passes in September alone. But that isn’t impressing FOX analyst Joel Klatt.
On the latest episode of his podcast previewing Saturday’s game between Texas and SEC rival Tennessee in Knoxville, Klatt admitted that he feels Arch simply “has not been that impressive” to start the season. He believes that Arch still isn’t making the kinds of throws that a truly elite college QB can make.
“Now Arch has not lit it on fire this year,” Klatt said. “Listen, that last quarter and a half, if you want to call it that, those last three drives against Ohio State, he was excellent, more gritty than excellent, but he got the job done. Outside of that guys, and I know that this is a contrarian take and no one wants to have it, Arch has not been that impressive.
“I know we all want him to be impressive because of the last name, but he’s got to take the next step, and the next step for him is playing well on the road, anticipating throws.”
“Let’s go back to the list I was talking about on Monday when I was talking about Trinidad Chambliss as a quarterback. If you’re a great player, you can execute in the passing game, and… your team can rely on the passing game, even if you don’t have a run game. Now, I will say this: I think Texas is a lot better at the line of scrimmage and specifically running the football than they were a year ago. If that shows up for them in this game against Tennessee, then everything’s going to be fine, and Arch is going to be out there, and he’ll have a good game.”
Manning’s Short and Long-Term Future
Texas fans probably won’t care one way or another so long as Manning takes after his uncle Eli and simply delivers in the clutch with some trophies on the line. If he can lead the Longhorns to a national title, he’ll be a legend.
But NFL fans will probably take Klatt’s words more to heart. There isn’t always a correlation between a quarterback’s ability to win a national title and a quarterback’s ability to play in the NFL. For every Joe Burrow there’s a Stetson Bennett. For every Trevor Lawrence there’s an AJ McCarron. For every Carson Palmer there’s a Cardale Jones. And so on.
There’s nine more regular season games and presumably at least one postseason game for Arch Manning to show that he has what it takes to be an elite pro prospect. But 661 passing yards and a 61.5-percent completion rate coming against the likes of Texas State and UTSA on top of the Buckeyes might not hack it.
What does the future hold for Arch Manning?
