Paul Finebaum doesn’t toss out quarterback praise lightly. So when he said, “I think there’s a reasonably good chance that Arch Manning will be sitting on the front row in New York at the Heisman ceremony,” it immediately raised eyebrows. Finebaum’s proclamation sent ripples across the college football landscape. This was a full-throated prediction backed by confidence in the Manning legacy. And he didn’t stop there. Just seconds later, he took it up a notch. “Arch Manning is the best college football quarterback we have seen since Tim Tebow entered the scene in 2006,” Finebaum said, drawing a line from Texas’s next big hope all the way back to one of Florida’s greatest.
At first glance, the comparison sounded poetic, a clean QB-to-QB timeline that bypassed an entire decade of talent. But now, when he sat across from ESPN’s Mike Tannenbaum, Kevin Clark, and David Dennis Jr., that sentiment sparked a real debate. Because the table had a different name in mind: Cam Newton.
And Kevin Clark was the one who started all of it by saying, “Paul, you know how much respect I have for you. I’m hosting your show next week. I love everything you do. I’m going to send you the Wikipedia page for Cam Newton as soon as I get off here on the air because he’s the best.” And boom, what transpired next was unheard of.
Finebaum, being in the business for decades, showed why he is “The Paul Finebaum.” He said, “Kevin, I appreciate you pointing me towards Wikipedia, but I actually covered Cam Newton at Auburn,” he started. “And I was actually quite aware of why he left the University of Florida. You might call Urban Meyer, he’ll be happy to tell you that Cam Newton, because he told me, is the worst guy he has ever dealt with in his college career.”
Let’s take five before you read the rest of his take. Cam Newton, the person who led Auburn to an unbeaten championship season, was called the worst guy. He didn’t stop there. “Cam Newton got kicked off the team, as you know. He went to Blinn Junior College. He only played one meaningful year. And on the final play of Cam Newton’s career, the former Auburn coach told Cam Newton to take a knee in the national championship game. Cam Newton decided to be Superman and tried to dive over the pile against Oregon… and he failed.” This was all about Cam as a player, but then he went deeper into Cam’s character.
Finebaum made it clear that this was more about the character than about the stat lines. “Cam Newton was selfish,” he said bluntly. “Tim Tebow was the consummate team player. He led that team to a national championship on his own. He participated in 2006 with Chris Leak.” Then he circled back to the point that started it all: “That’s what I see in Arch Manning.” The critics, he said, are too caught up in the small sample size argument. “But he has the potential… He’s capable of the Heisman this year. He’s capable of multiple national championships.”
It was a bold argument wrapped in an even bolder comparison. Finebaum is betting on Arch’s intangibles. His trust, his temperament, and his “team first” attitude. It’s the kind of narrative that Finebaum believes the sport desperately needs again. And in his view, Arch brings that full circle, carrying forward the DNA of a quarterback who plays for the logo on the helmet, not just the name on the back.
Only time will tell whether Arch Manning lives up to the weight of that surname and the shadow of his grandfather and uncles. But if there’s one thing Finebaum made perfectly clear, it’s this: he’s all in. And he’s willing to take shots at Cam Newton and stand by Tim Tebow to make sure the rest of the world starts paying attention, too.
McAfee’s suggestion fuels Finebaum’s belief
While Paul Finebaum stirred the waters with his Arch Manning-Tim Tebow comparison, it was Pat McAfee who casually tossed gasoline on the fire. During his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, the media star floated the idea that NFL teams might already be eyeing Arch for the next draft, yes, as early as 2026. “There’s a lot of teams saying, ‘Hey, let’s not be scared to lose a lot of games this year. Maybe next year we can get Arch on our team,” McAfee said. That throwaway line wasn’t so throwaway after all. Knowing Pat’s intel and connections, it could very well be already decided by the Mannings to get in the 2026 draft class.
This only adds more fuel to Finebaum’s red-hot take from earlier this week. His bold proclamation that Arch Manning is “the best college quarterback since Tim Tebow” suddenly doesn’t feel as outrageous when paired with McAfee’s early NFL draft buzz. Together, they sketch a picture of a quarterback whose ceiling might be even higher than expected and whose window of opportunity could open sooner than anyone planned.
If both men are even partially right, then Arch Manning might be looking at the most high-pressure sophomore season college football has seen in years. We can only imagine the pressure on Arch Manning this season; it’s not about living up to the Manning legacy anymore. It’s about being the best thing that has ever happened to American Football as a whole. That’s the only thing that will justify his hype in this offseason.
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