{"id":790725,"date":"2026-03-04T05:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T05:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/790725\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T05:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T05:22:13","slug":"cam-newton-blames-arch-manning-for-the-worst-qb-draft-class-in-20-years-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/790725\/","title":{"rendered":"Cam Newton blames Arch Manning for the worst QB draft class in 20 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cam Newton blames Arch Manning for the worst QB draft class in 20 years<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cam Newton stirred debate about the upcoming NFL Draft class this week. The former NFL MVP argues that Texas quarterback Arch Manning\u2019s decision to remain in college is a major reason the 2026 quarterback group lacks star power.<\/p>\n

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During a recent 4th & 1 podcast, Newton discussed draft prospects and called the 2026 quarterback class \u201cthe worst in the last two decades,\u201d suggesting the absence of Manning at the top of the pool has dramatically changed how evaluators view the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the actual worst quarterback draft class in the last two decades,\u201d Newton said<\/a>. \u201cAnd you want to know who\u2019s to blame? Arch Manning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newton clarified his comments were not meant as criticism of Manning\u2019s ability, but rather the immense expectations that surrounded the Texas quarterback entering his college career. Manning, the grandson of Archie Manning and nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, was widely viewed as a generational prospect.<\/p>\n

Newton said many expected Manning to develop into a player who combined elite athletic traits with the football intelligence associated with the Manning family name.<\/p>\n

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More:\u00a0Trent Dilfer says he was ‘forced’ to take UAB head coaching job<\/a><\/p>\n

With Manning\u2019s decision to return to Texas, all of that pushed expectations into the future.<\/p>\n

When looking at the 2026 draft pool, Newton said the quarterback group, which includes Indiana\u2019s Fernando Mendoza, Alabama\u2019s Ty Simpson, Miami\u2019s Carson Beck and Vanderbilt\u2019s Diego Pavia, lacks a clear franchise-level prospect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really see a franchise quarterback,\u201d Newton said. \u201cI just don\u2019t see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

More:\u00a0Ohio State’s Ryan Day faces backlash after NFL Combine<\/a><\/p>\n

Newton added that Manning\u2019s return could dramatically boost the following draft cycle. With prospects such as Manning, Dante Moore, LaNorris Sellers, Trinidad Chambliss and Julian Sayin expected to headline the 2027 class, Newton predicted it could become one of the most talented quarterback drafts in recent memory.<\/p>\n

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Anyway you stack it, the group of elite quarterbacks will be fun to watch in the 2026 college football season.<\/p>\n

More college football news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cam Newton blames Arch Manning for the worst QB draft class in 20 years originally appeared on The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":790726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[52,615,1828,7571,2037,6446,7491,3724,3619,7,932,2226,9734,4959,6,15,51,52489,65456,20708],"class_list":["post-790725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl-draft","tag-alabama","tag-arch-manning","tag-archie-manning","tag-cam-newton","tag-carson-beck","tag-dante-moore","tag-diego-pavia","tag-eli-manning","tag-fernando-mendoza","tag-football","tag-indiana","tag-julian-sayin","tag-lanorris-sellers","tag-manning","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-texas","tag-texas-quarterback","tag-trinidad-chambliss","tag-ty-simpson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=790725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/790726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}