We haven't seen Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning in action much so far -- he attempted just five passes as a true freshman in 2023 -- but there's still one aspect of his game that head coach Steve Sarkisian doesn't think the former five-star recruit is receiving enough credit for.
Sarkisian met with reporters earlier this week and he explained that Manning is a much better athlete than most folks realize.
"I think the one thing that Arch really did today, I thought he did a really good job of stepping up in the pocket, keeping his eyes down the field and delivering the ball, under some duress, very accurately," said Sarkisian. "And Arch, the thing about him that I think most people probably don't give him enough credit for, he is a really good athlete. He's big, he's strong, and he's fast.
"Sometimes he'll lean into using his legs to create explosive plays. We saw that in the [Texas] Tech game when he got in last year -- his legs became an advantage for him. And we like that. But we want that to almost be the last resort. I want him to have a real sense and a feel of stepping up in the pocket, making these throws, and when he has to use his legs, use them. Which he did today. But I thought he made a few throws today in our team period that he didn't make Saturday and had made. And that was a big step for him in my opinion."
It might be easy for fans -- especially non-Texas fans -- to assume that Manning doesn't have much speed because of his famous last name (his uncles, Eli and Peyton, were famously sloth-like on the field compared to faster quarterbacks like Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, and Alex Smith, or even Aaron Rodgers).
But speed is actually in Manning's blood. After all, his grandfather, Archie, a former Ole Miss quarterback, rushed for over 2,000 yards in his NFL career (which was a significant amount of rushing yards for a quarterback during that era). Archie also rushed for 823 yards during his three seasons as the quarterback at Ole Miss.
Additionally, Manning's dad, Cooper, was a wide receiver before spinal stenosis diagnosis prematurely ended his football career.
It's unclear how much we'll see Manning play for Texas in 2024 with Quinn Ewers returning as the starter, but it certainly sounds like he has a chance to be an extremely dynamic player once he gets his shot.
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