The Texas Longhorns came into the weekend following a heartbreaking loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was Arch Manning’s first true road start, and he didn’t perform the way anyone expected. After spending two years behind Quinn Ewers, he finally has the opportunity to be the full-time starter for the Longhorns. Though he easily could have transferred, Manning chose to wait for his chance.
“There’s nowhere else I want to be. I want to be the quarterback at the University of Texas. Sometimes it’s worth the wait,” Manning said.
There’s still speculation about whether this will be his only year at Texas before declaring for the NFL Draft. As of now, he doesn’t appear ready to be a one-and-done prospect. However, the expectation seems to be that he’ll spend at least two seasons as the starter.
“The word from people that have been down there visiting Texas for scouting visits has been that they expect Arch to be there for two more seasons,” NFL analyst Field Yates said. “Will that prevail? We’ll see, but that has been the sentiment that scouts have been gathering when they spend time around the Texas program this past season.”
In Week 1, Manning appeared to have an arm injury, displaying an unusual throwing motion.
“The Arch Manning reaction is too harsh. He’s only 21 and played against the defending national champions. Deserves time. But missing open receivers as badly as he did here (and all game) is so rough. Strange how he kept side arming it. Injury? Yips? Hmm,” Kevin O’Connor posted.
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In Week 2, a play was broken down by film analyst Brooks Austin, showing Manning grimacing while throwing with an odd arm slot.
That doesn’t look right pic.twitter.com/1JUk181BOJ
— Brooks Austin (@BrooksAustinBA) September 7, 2025
This raises significant concern, as no injury has been officially reported, but it’s clear something is bothering him. It marks the second straight week of questionable mechanics and reactions while throwing. At this point, continuing to play through it may be doing more harm than good—and once he begins facing SEC defenses, any underlying injury could become even more detrimental.
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