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Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning (16) takes the field before the game between the Texas Longhorns and the Clemson Tigers in the CFP National Playoff First Round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Why Was Texas Longhorns' Arch Manning Left Off Top-10 QB List?

Originally posted on Texas Longhorns on SI
By Harrison Reno | Last updated Apr 29, 2025 11:00 AM ET

With the NFL Draft and even spring practice for college football programs across the country. The talking season phase of the offseason has arrived, and with that comes the countless number of top-10 lists, whether that be head coaches, quarterbacks, receivers, or even teams.

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy became the latest to come out with a top-10 list of his own. The former Alabama quarterback recently released his preseason top-10 quarterbacks list, which, interestingly enough left did not include Texas Longhorns' Arch Manning.

Manning was relegated to being an honorable mention alongside SMU's Kevin Jennings, Arkansas's Taylen Green, Illinois's Luke Altmeyer, and UCLA's Nico Iamaleava.

“I think he is poised to have an amazingly successful career, whether that’s a one-year career, two years, three years. However long he’s in Austin, assuming he’s there his whole career, I think he’s absolutely positioned to be tremendously successful,” McElroy said. “That being said, he does not crack the top 10 just yet. Now, he makes our honorable mention list, which tells you how much we think about this young man.”

Instead, McElroy had Cade Klubnik, John Mateer, Sam Leavitt, Drew Allar, Garrett Nussmeier, Carson Beck, LaNorris Sellers, Sawyer Robertson, DJ Lagway, and Haynes King.

Yet, Manning's exclusion from that top-10 ranking wasn't mean to be taken as a slight from McElroy. Instead, the former Alabama quarterback's reasoning for leaving him as a honorable mention, simply came down to not seeing a full sample size yet from the Longhorns new signal-caller.

“First-year starters for me, it’s very hard for me to ever justify putting a first-year starter ahead of guys that have actually done it when the bullets are flying,” McElroy said. “And you can say, well, the bullets flew last year. … Last year in spot start situations [Manning] was tremendously good.

While he was the backup behind Quinn Ewers for the past two seasons, Manning did have the opportunity to see those "live bullets" fly in games. He made his first two career starts last season as Ewers missed time with an oblique injury.

In those two starts, Manning threw for 583 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions, while completing 68.3 percent of his passes, leading Texas to wins in each game. Manning finished his sophomore year with 10 appearances, where he threw for 939 yards and nine touchdowns with just two interceptions. However, he also rushed for 108 yards and four more scores.

Yet, McElroy wants to see a bigger sample size of what Manning can do before putting him ahead of quarterbacks who already have that. That bigger sample size, though, could just mean seeing him in the Longhorns' season-opener versus Ohio State.

This article first appeared on Texas Longhorns on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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