Jordan Rodgers Gives Honest Opinion About Arch Manning

Jul 18, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

The Arch Manning era as the starting quarterback of the Texas Longhorns is set to begin this season.

Manning, the former No. 1 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class and the grandson of legendary Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Archie Manning, is also the nephew of NFL icons Peyton and Eli Manning. He has been waiting for his opportunity behind Quinn Ewers for the past two seasons.

Ewers has moved on to the NFL draft after leading Texas to back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances. Now, Manning hopes to guide the Longhorns to their first national championship since 2005.

During an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” SEC Network analyst Jordan Rodgers mentioned that while there is much to admire about Manning, there are also some concerns.

Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning takes the field before his team’s College Football Playoff game. — Source: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

“The best thing about Arch, I think he’s got a high floor,” Rodgers said. “I think you know what you’re going to get. You’re not going to get a bad version of Arch. I wonder if he has the upside, the arm talent to createability that some of the other guys like Sellers, and DJ (Lagway) and Nussmeier have.”

Rodgers pointed out that Manning performed well against teams such as the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, UTSA Roadrunners and the Mississippi State Bulldogs. However, he noted that none of these teams had a strong defense, with Mississippi State ranking 125th in the nation in that category.

Despite this, Manning threw for a total of 806 yards, eight touchdowns, and two interceptions while completing 69.4 percent of his passes. He also added 82 rushing yards and two touchdowns. However, when Manning faced a top-tier team, he struggled.

In Texas’ first game against the Georgia Bulldogs, Manning made a brief appearance, going 3-for-6 for only 19 yards and fumbling the ball, which allowed Georgia to score late in the first half.

Manning will face a challenging start to the season when Texas opens against the Ohio State Buckeyes at noon ET on Aug. 30 on Fox.