Arch Manning entered the 2025 college football season with more hype and higher expectations placed on him than any other football player in the history of the sport. In hindsight, there was virtually no way that he was ever going to meet those lofty expectations.

He was a Manning. He had the five-star recruit label. Manning had already flashed incredible potential in limited action in 2024. Plus, he stands at 6-4, 220 pounds with a rocket arm and phenomenal mobility. What was there not to like?

Kirb Herbstreit broke down what went wrong with the Arch Manning hype machine last season, but laid out why he believes the Texas Longhorns quarterback is going to be the first quarterback off the NFL Draft board in 2027 after an impressive showing this year.

Kirk Herbstreit believes the 2025 adversity will help Arch Manning finally live up to the hype

Last season was a roller coaster for those who wanted to bet the entire Texas Longhorns future on Arch Manning. He was thoroughly disappointing in Week 1 against Ohio State. He started extremely slow and struggled for much of the next four games against San Jose State, UTEP, Sam Houston State and what turned out to be a pretty bad Florida team.

However, once Manning found his footing, shrugged off all the haters, all the noise, and settled in, there really may not have been a better quarterback in the nation down the stretch of the 2025 college football season.

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Steve Sarkisian’s offense, the weapons around him, everything began to click as Manning tossed 11 touchdowns, averaging well over 300 passing yards per game in a four-game run of tough action that included both Vanderbilt and Georgia. Then Manning closed out the season by crushing the hopes and dreams of both Texas A&M and Michigan. It’s no wonder that Texas fans and college football analysts around the country are beginning to believe that Arch Manning’s hype was heaped upon him just a bit early — but now expect it to come to fruition in 2026.

In fact, one of the biggest voices in all of college football, Kirk Herbstreit, made it clear he’s a firm believer in Arch Manning becoming exactly what Texas fans need him to be. Here’s what he had to say this week when he joined On3’s Crain And Cone:

“I just think [Arch Manning] has been through a tough stretch where the expectations were almost unfair. And a lot of it was his own doing. He felt the tension. I think it affected him. When you’re going into a season, and it’s like, ‘He’s better than both of his uncles. He’s better than his grandpa.’ — it’s like every throw had to be like, ‘Whoa, did you see that?’…He lived it. He experienced it. He survived it…I’ll be shocked, when the dust settles, if he’s not the [number one] guy in the [2027 NFL Draft] class.”

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Herbstreit’s confidence and strong take on Arch Manning’s likely upcoming further ascension to the top of the sport isn’t exactly unique, but it does reinforce exactly how many Texas Longhorns fans (perhaps apprehensively) are feeling now. Texas just barely missed the cutoff for the College Football Playoff last year. The thought of Manning playing as good, or even better than he did near the end of 2025 has to have every Texas fan, NFL Draft analyst, and QB-needy NFL team just salivating.

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There’s always a chance that Manning’s hype continues to rise to unfair levels once again, but at this point the young NFL legacy quarterback seems to have learned to deal with the stresses that almost no other player has before in all of college football. Plus, coach Sarkisian and his staff brought in a phenomenal haul of transfer portal talent this offseason to make Manning’s job even easier.

Cam Coleman, a future first round pick at wide receiver with great size and speed to pair with Ryan Wingo and company. Hollywood Smothers, an elite college running back coming off a year where he averaged over 100 yards from scrimmage per game for NC State. Plus, a fresh set of offensive lineman to help keep him upright, lining up next to two of the best tackles in college football.

All of the tools are there for Arch Manning to reach his full potential. He just has to silence the noise once again, going out and using his ridiculous God-given ability that the entire world already knows he possesses.

We’ll be back with more Texas Longhorns coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news.

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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Feb 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.