Arch Manning is heading into his first season as the Texas Longhorns’ starting quarterback after Quinn Ewers declared and was selected in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Manning was a highly-touted prospect out of high school, as he was the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class.
Despite being eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft, one college football analyst believes that Manning may not declare and could stay at Texas for another year.
Will Arch Manning Enter the 2026 NFL Draft? Joel Klatt Doesn’t Think So
Recently, during the weekly appearance on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” show, Fox Sports’ lead college football analyst Joel Klatt and Cowherd both believed that the future is very bright for Manning. Furthermore, Klatt shared his views on Manning by saying he can be a big part of the future of football.
“I think that the future of football is so bright,” Klatt said. “In 10 years… we’re going to be talking about an incredible NFL matchup between Arch Manning and Dylan Raiola. There are some young players in college football, we’re going to watch these guys for a long time. Manning is one of them.
“The young players in our sport right now are incredible and it makes me incredibly excited for the future of our sport.”
Moreover, Klatt also believes that because of Manning leading the Longhorns, he is confident that Texas will definitely take part in the national championship.
“Ewers is their starter and he’s going to be their starter and they want him back and he’s their leader. But Arch solidified them as a bonafide national championship contender because now it doesn’t matter if their quarterback stays healthy. They’re still a premier team in the country with him at quarterback,” Klatt said.
Soon enough, the conversation took a turn into an uncommon situation about a top quarterback anticipating his opportunity instead of getting transferred. Klatt believes that this was part of the Manning family’s plan from the beginning.
KEEP READING: A QB Goes No. 1 Overall in ESPN’s Latest 2026 NFL Mock Draft, But Not Arch Manning
“That family,” Klatt said. “They understand two truths about developing quarterbacks for the long run. One is, don’t play too early. In particular in college because you can be ruined.
“So he went there (Texas) with the objective to develop for a couple of years without being the starter under a guy that’s going to teach him an NFL-style system that will be good for him long term. That’s Steve Sarkisian. So that’s No. 1. No. 2 will be the more reps that you get in college, the better your success will be in the NFL.”
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