For the second straight year, Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning, the nephew of NFL legends Peyton and Eli Manning, is at the top of mock drafts. Manning’s junior year at Texas saw him enter the season as one of the most touted pro prospects of all time, with ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum even saying that Arch is the best college football quarterback we have seen since Tim Tebow.
Manning struggled to live up to lofty expectations, but showed improvement as the season unfolded. Now, ahead of his senior campaign, one assistant GM, operating under anonymity, is breaking down Manning as a prospect and some of the player comps that have been made regarding him.
“He’s a good quarterback prospect—6′ 4″, athletic, can run, has plus arm talent but not special arm talent, and has improved every year,” the executive told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “The last name is putting the ‘generational’ thing on him, and I don’t think he’s that. His decision-making under duress is still iffy and needs work; he runs hot and cold with his accuracy. He can make pinpoint throws, but consistently misses on in-cuts, digs and slants.
“You’ll bet on the kid because of the pedigree, but he’s not in the Andrew Luck category. How I’d look at it: Luck was freaky smart, a freaky athlete. The floor was extremely high, the failure rate really low. Arch doesn’t have a low floor, but it’s definitely lower than that. And he has a ceiling that could match Luck’s—the true physical ability could match it. But some of the QB-specific play, he’s not there yet.”
The exec also told Breer that “I’m betting on him maximizing his ability,” in part because of the immense character Manning has displayed so far in his career.
It’ll be fascinating to see if Manning can put it all together in what figures to be his final season of college football.
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