Urban Meyer Well Within Bounds To Criticize Hype of Texas QB Arch Manning

Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer isn't yet ready to crown Texas' Arch Manning the next great college football quarterback. Not yet, at least.

Sure, Manning is a former No. 1 overall recruit and his pedigree is the stuff legends are made of. This is the grandson of Archie Manning and nephew of Peyton Manning and Eli Manning we're talking about. Elite football, and specifically elite quarterbacking, runs through this kid's blood.

Manning has also looked like the real deal in his 12 games of experience over the past two years of backing up Quinn Ewers at Texas.

Heading into Week 1's massive matchup between the No. 3 Buckeyes and No. 1 Longhorns, though, Meyer thinks its time to cool down the hype train just a bit on Manning.

“Arch Manning hasn’t done a thing yet,” the former OSU head coach recently said on the Joel Klatt Show (h/t On3). “I went back, because I’ve said that a few times and some people hit me back with ‘what are you talking about?’ I’m hearing the word ‘Heisman,’ I’m hearing the word ‘National Champion’ and ‘first pick overall.’ So I went back and rewatched (tape) just recently, and he’s a good player. I mean, he’s a really good player. But he’s not … get a couple of first downs.”

It's important to see the nuance in what Meyer is saying here. He isn't saying that Manning can't be the Heisman winner, or the future No. 1 overall pick. In fact, he admitted that the Texas quarterback is "really good".

That's high praise from someone who has coached Tim Tebow, and to a lesser extent, quarterbacks like Alex Smith, Troy Smith and Terrelle Pryor.

Meyer knows what he's talking about when it comes to the evaluation of college quarterbacks, so he's well within the pocket to criticize the hype of Manning. Again, that's not saying Manning won't be everything that Texas fans have dreamed of since Vince Young or Colt McCoy, but let's pump the breaks.