Arch Manning, one of Manning’s famous quarterbacks, will make his first start at the University of Texas later this evening. The start is due to a minor injury to the starting quarterback Quinn Ewers.
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Because of Steve Sarkisian‘s confident handling of the position, there is no quarterback controversy of any kind. In fact, there is more discussion of a quarterback controversy than an actual controversy. Almost everyone understands that Ewers is the starter and Manning’s time will come. However, there is a Venn diagram of people who thought Manning would transfer this offseason and that there is a controversy now. This diagram is a nearly perfect circle and fits over the heads of idiots.
We could probably add another circle – one that says Manning will only play one full season at Texas. Clearly, some people prefer to trust convention or their intuition rather than readily available information. As we learned during Manning’s recruitment, his family doesn’t really buy into “convention.”
Texas wasn’t chosen because NIL existed. Texas wasn’t chosen because it was the cool school at the time. Texas wasn’t chosen because it was an obvious national title contender.
Texas was selected because of the combination of Sark’s program construction (despite a 5-7 record in his first year), his track record in development and Arch Manning‘s general fondness for school.
This is not an emotional, knee-jerk group. They are playing the long game. Development is key for the Mannings. Peyton Manning had 1,381 pass attempts in college. Eli Manning had 1,363. That time under pressure has better prepared them for life in the NFL.
Related: How are the NFL’s rookie quarterbacks doing this year?
The idea that Arch would leave after a full season shows a complete lack of understanding for this family, despite all the evidence from his recruitment and his very famous uncles.
We know Arch wants to win a national championship to outshine his uncle, but in this family, performance is measured by Super Bowls. The goal is to prepare him to make it in the NFL.
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He will hit the ground running, but only after playing two full seasons in Texas.
