The Texas Longhorns will head into the upcoming 2026 college football season as one of the top National Championship contenders in the nation. However, their hopes of winning it all will rest heavily on the throwing arm of Arch Manning.
Manning had a rough start to the 2025 season. By the end of the year, he was playing at an elite level and was arguably the best quarterback in college football.
Texas will be hoping that Manning can pick up where he left off in the second half of last season to begin the 2026 campaign.
Throughout the course of the 2025 season with the Longhorns, Manning completed 61.4 percent of his pass attempts for 3,163 yards, 26 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, while also running for 399 yards and 10 more scores. He is widely viewed as a contender to be the NFL’s No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 draft.
With that being said, Aaron Rodgers‘ brother, Jordan Rodgers, spoke out with some strong words about Manning.
Jordan Rodgers Doesn’t Hold Back About Texas QB Arch Manning
During an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up” earlier this week, Rodgers made it clear that he does not believe Manning is the best quarterback in the country.
“No, I don’t,” Rodgers said. “I was the one, maybe the only one last year preseason saying, ‘Let’s pump the brakes a little bit. We haven’t seen this guy play yet.’”
While he doesn’t think that Manning is the best quarterback in the nation, Rodgers did shower him with some praise.
“Now, he did play really well down the stretch, 7-1 down the stretch, 20 touchdowns, just two interceptions,” Rodgers said. Arch was the best quarterback at the end of the regular season.”
He finished off by naming who he believes is the best quarterback in the nation.
“But the best quarterback in the College Football Playoff, and the best quarterback going into this season, in my opinion, is Trinidad Chambliss,” Rodgers said. “What he did in that Playoff, he was the best player. Three hundred sixty-two yards against Georgia, almost single-handedly beat Miami to advance to the national championship.”
Arch Manning Is Still a Heisman Trophy Candidate, Per Rodgers
Rodgers isn’t all down on Manning. He does believe that the Texas quarterback will be a Heisman Trophy finalist when all is said and done.
“I expect Arch to take another big step,” Rodgers said. “I expect him to be in New York at the Heisman Trophy ceremony. He’s going to be really good, but I still think some of those mechanical issues, I want to see those cleaned up to project him to be a top 10 or a first-round draft pick next year.”
Manning was also offered some advice from Rodgers about how he feels the young quarterback can improve.
“But back to Arch,” Rodgers stated. “There are still some mechanical issues that I think he has to improve upon. He got so much better at the end of the year. He was more consistent with his feet, but when his feet are elongated or not in the right place, his velocity dips, the spiral is a little wobbly, and he misses at times.”
Only time will tell, but Manning is still the guy who many believe is the best quarterback in the nation. It will be interesting to see if his play can do the talking.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Aaron Rodgers’ Brother Has Strong Words About Texas QB Arch Manning appeared first on HEAVY.