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Arch Manning's Surprising Spot in ESPN's 2025 QB Rankings Sparks Debate

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | Last updated Mar 28, 2025 11:33 AM ET

The 2025 college football season is coming into focus as schools around the nation embark on spring practices and work towards their annual spring games, or whatever they are choosing to do at the end of the spring season.

It will be quite an entertaining year ahead, with some new faces in new places, and highly-touted names set to take over in prominent roles. One of those highly-touted names is Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning, who will be the starter in Austin after Quinn Ewers departs for the NFL.

After showing flashes of greatness in his first two seasons at Texas, Manning is expected to be one of the top players in the nation this year, with many believing that he could be in the mix for the Heisman Trophy at the end of the season.

However, the good folks over at ESPN don't seem to have quite as high of an opinion on Manning going into his first year as a starter.

On Friday, ESPN released its annual QB rankings for the new season in college football. Manning was on the list, but he was far lower than many probably expected him to be.

ESPN's Adam Rittenburg ranked Manning as the No. 12 QB in the nation this year. After throwing for 939 passing yards, 9 TDs, 2 INTs, and rushing for 4 TDs last year, there are high expectations, but Manning needs to prove it as a starter in 2025 before his ranking rises.

"Manning's usage for most of the season limited how much coaches could scout him, but his highlights, especially during the first few games, caught some attention," Rittenburg wrote. "His ability to generate long runs and make throws on the move especially stood out."

While it's understandable that Manning needs more production before being ranked higher, some of the names above him are a bit surprising. For instance, Florida's DJ Lagway is at No. 10, Georgia Tech's Haynes King is at No. 9, and South Carolina's LaNorris Sellars is at No. 5.

At the top of the list is Clemson Tigers QB Cade Klubnik, who is one of the front-runners for the Heisman Trophy this season.

These offseason rankings are an interesting snapshot that we can look back on in a handful of months and see how things change, if at all. Once Manning has a few games under his belt with the Longhorns, it will be interesting to see where people think he ranks among the best passers in the nation.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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