Yahoo Sports has some new insight on the Rams’ future at QB, which could include Manning sitting behind Matthew Stafford
For the second time in two days, the Los Angeles Rams are being linked to the most popular and well-known quarterback in college football. First, it was Todd McShay who cryptically hinted at the Rams eyeing Texas quarterback Arch Manning in the 2026 NFL Draft, thanks to the fact that they have two first-round picks and an aging veteran in Matthew Stafford.
Now, Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson is connecting the Rams to Manning, too – this time with sourced information from inside the building.
Robinson visited Rams camp on Wednesday and gathered some intel on their plans at quarterback with Stafford approaching the end of his career. He spoke with Rams personnel sources who say L.A. views Manning as the only Tier 1 prospect in the 2026 class and believe he has similar upside to Josh Allen.
Speaking to a handful of Rams personnel sources, Manning is — at this moment — considered by the staff to be the lone tier one quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft, regardless of who else could potentially enter into the selection process. Why? The Rams covet Manning’s prototypical size and throwing acumen … but also believe it’s his level of athleticism that sets him apart from from every other college football quarterback. So much so, the comparison for Manning inside the franchise is that his ceiling after the 2025 college football season could be a Josh Allen-type of prospect who is actually stronger physically and a faster running athlete than Allen was when he entered the draft in 2018.
There are obviously some caveats when it comes to Manning potentially being Stafford’s successor. For starters, he’s thrown a total of 95 passes in college with two career starts. There’s no guarantee he’ll develop into a blue-chip prospect, given his small sample size to date.
Also, many believe he could opt to stay in college after the 2025 season and enter the 2027 draft instead, following a similar path to his uncles, Eli and Peyton Manning.
But if he does declare for the 2026 draft, the Rams will consider making a play for Manning, even if Stafford chooses to return for another season. That would allow them to sit Manning behind Stafford for a year before handing him the keys in 2027, which Robinson reports Stafford would be open to.
Interestingly, a high-ranking Rams source told Yahoo Sports that even if Stafford were to choose to return to the team in 2026, the Rams would — at this point — still lean into drafting Manning (if he were gettable) and then put him on ice for his rookie season, similar to the Kansas City Chiefs keeping Patrick Mahomes on the bench behind Alex Smith in 2017. The source added that the franchise believes Stafford would be open to such a scenario, knowing that 2027 will almost certainly be his last season in the NFL, regardless of what transpires during the course of the regular season and playoffs.
A lot can change between now and next spring but it’s becoming clear that the Rams are at least eyeing Manning as part of their succession plan. They passed on this year’s quarterback class and instead acquired a 2026 first-round pick by trading back with the Falcons, so they have the ammo to move up the board if they want to next April.
We’ll just have to wait and see A) if Manning declares and B) if he becomes the top-tier prospect people think he’ll be. For the time being, we’ll keep connecting those dots between the Rams – especially given Les Snead’s connection to Texas through his son, a friend of Manning’s.