Texas Longhorns QB Arch Manning did something that’s not that common in the transfer portal, and that was waiting for his opportunity to be the starting signal-caller. Manning became QB1 in 2025 after serving as a third-string and backup during his first two seasons in Austin.
Manning posted a passer rating of 144.9 with 3,163 yards, 26 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 13 games in 2025, per StatMuse.
Nonetheless, while all eyes are on what the Texas quarterback will do in 2026, FS1 host Colin Cowherd noted that amid the redemption arc of Sam Darnold, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback reminded the host of Manning.
“All these college quarterbacks now, the minute they have a bad week or get bad news, I’m out of here,” Cowherd said on the Feb. 12 edition of “The Herd.” “Give me a paycheck. I’m out of here. And there are times I think college quarterbacks should transfer… but Arch Manning never left. He had to sit for two years at Texas. Then, when he finally played, it was rough. He got crushed, [and] he was bad; he stayed there. He hung in [and he was tough.
“Did you watch his last five or six games in the SEC? Beat A&M and Vandy, went 5-1, 20 touchdowns, two picks, 320 yards per game. He overcame; he endured, [and] he had to sit. I watch these five-star quarterbacks. If they’re not starting by their redshirt freshman year, I’m out of here… When I’m watching Drew Brees talk about Sam Darnold, it makes me think of Arch Manning.”
Texas QB Arch Manning Has New WR Weapon
For the 2026 season, Manning will have a No. 1 receiver with the arrival of former Auburn Tigers Cam Coleman. With Coleman now part of the mix at Texas, the focus shifts to how this could shape Manning’s growth.
On Jan. 11, On3’s J.D. PicKell explained the role Coleman is expected to play for Manning, one that was missing from the offense last season.
“For Arch Manning, he had a good year last year, especially as the year progressed,” PicKell said. “He finished very quietly top five in passing touchdowns in the SEC. He really came on strong toward the end of the year. But the thing with Arch Manning is, as good a year as he had, I don’t think there was ever like one true alpha wide receiver for him.
“Like Ryan Wingo had a good year. Parker Livingstone had a good year. But there was nobody who was like, ‘Hey, on fourth and goal now they’re probably going to get the ball to this guy.’ Even if there was a guy like that, you weren’t overly worried about him to the sense of like, ‘Hey, let’s double cover him. Hey, let’s give him safety help.’ Cam Coleman now is effectively that. If you’re excited about the Arch Manning progress and you want to see him do more in 2026, you just now got a piece for the offense to do that.”
Cam Coleman Can Help Elevate Longhorns Offense
Moreover, PicKell believes that Coleman will elevate other aspects of the Longhorns’ offense that were lacking last season.
“Last year, Texas’s leading rusher had right around the neighborhood of 600 yards,” PicKell added. “Now, some of that is just that he didn’t really have the offensive line play to go with that. The running back room, in general, just kind of struggled to find rhythm. But I think a lot of that, too, is the pass game being what it was and not having a true ‘Pop the top on a defense’ kind of guy. Cam Coleman is effectively that.
“So Cam Coleman is going to raise his game, but it’s going to raise Arch Manning’s game absolutely and raise the overall Texas offensive game, with having some more for those safeties to worry about in the deep passing game and ideally some lighter boxes.”
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