Renowned Analyst Predicts Texas Longhorns QB Arch Manning Will Start in 2024
The Texas Longhorns have an interesting quarterback situation brewing ahead of the 2024 college football season.
Quinn Ewers is expected to begin the year as the starter. However, he has Arch Manning waiting behind him for any kind of slow start or injury to take over the job.
While Manning could end up waiting and becoming the starter in 2025, one renowned college football analyst has made a massive prediction for the young Texas quarterback.
Paul Finebaum of ESPN recently dropped his bold prediction that Manning will end the 2024 season as the starting quarterback for the Longhorns.
"That will be Arch Manning. I don't need to tiptoe around that. That is guaranteed. You heard it."
I asked @Finebaum who will be the #Longhorns starting QB by the end of their first season in the #SEC.
— Tyler Feldman (@TylerFeldmanTV) June 30, 2024
His response: "That will be Arch Manning. I don't need to tiptoe around that. That is guaranteed. You heard it."#HookEm | @KVUE pic.twitter.com/RXuRg10WMb
Making that kind of prediction has a lot wrapped into it. That would mean that Ewers would have to fall apart on the field and get hurt.
Ewers is currently projected to be a high pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Seeing him fall apart would impact much more than just his college football career. However, that is what the prediction is stating.
Looking closer at Manning, the young quarterback has handled the situation with maturity. He has said all the right things and simply focused on improving his game and being prepared for the time that his number is called.
Manning looks to be a future high NFL Draft pick as well. He has opted to stick it out with Texas rather than pursue playing time at another big school. The youngster has bought into the Longhorns completely and has just continued to work hard to push Ewers as much as he can.
Off the field, the nephew of Peyton Manning and Eli Manning has been very successful as well. As of right now, On3 has him ranked as the No. 3 highest paid NIL athlete in college sports.
His NIL valuation is off the charts at $2.8 million. For a college quarterback who has only thrown five career passes, those numbers are insane. Manning also ranks ahead of Ewers from an NIL standpoint.
All of that being said, it's going to be very interesting to see what the 2024 season has in store for Texas. Finebaum clearly believes that Manning will take over the starting job at some point this year. Fans will just have to wait and see if that actually ends up happening.
EVAN MASSEY
Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst who covers both the NFL and NBA. He has worked for ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, NFLAnalysis.net, NBAAnalysis.net, and many other publications. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son.