They say that Arch Manning was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. After all, he never had to fight to be in the hype meter. He has been blessed with flag carrying THE MANNING legacy. But nobody talks about the burden of expectations on Manning’s shoulders. Already, he has been snubbed by former Florida and South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier.
“Most people (are) picking Texas to win the SEC (this year). They’ve got Arch Manning already winning the Heisman too. My question is: If he was this good, how come they let Quinn Ewers play all the time last year? And he was a 7th-round pick.” However, Manning does not really allow all this negativity to seep in through his skin. Rather, he is busy spreading positivity among the budding stars who often look up to him as a source of inspiration. June 27, Friday, was all about a full-circle moment for the Texas Longhorns quarterback in Thibodaux.
He returned to Manning Passing Academy as a counselor. And he could not resist being the hype man of the freshman players. On June 28, OnTexasFootball tweeted, “Arch Manning made sure to give true freshman and former 5 WR Kaliq Lockett a shoutout at the Manning Passing Academy .” When asked about who has impressed him at the camp, Manning shared, “Kaliq [Lockett]’s looking good this summer. We’re fired up. We’ve got a young but talented group.” Freshman Kaliq Lockett was a 4-star recruit coming out of high school. The 6-foot-2/175 lbs star from Sachse, TX, is rated in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 5 wide receiver in the nation and the No. 6 player in the state of Texas.
Arch Manning made sure to give true freshman and former 5 WR Kaliq Lockett a shoutout at the Manning Passing Academy pic.twitter.com/fDc3u15sxw
— OnTexasFootball (@ontexasfootball) June 28, 2025
Manning must have been under panic after the Longhorns lost two key receivers in the NFL Draft, Matthew Golden (Texas’ leading receiver in yards and touchdowns) and Isiah Bond (who caught 34 passes for 540 yards and five touchdowns). But he no longer has to worry, as Lockett has already shown signs of his explosiveness at the Thibodaux camp. While Lockett has not played a collegiate snap, he is receiving national praise. FOX Sports’ Michael Cohen curated a list of the Top 10 impact freshmen heading into 2025, and at No. 6 was Lockett. Not just freshman, even Manning’s competitor and a red-shirt junior caught some praise from the Texas Longhorns’ quarterback.
That’s none other than LSU Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. The two reportedly shared a room together at the Manning Passing Academy. As we all must be aware that Nussmeier comes off as one of the biggest threat for Manning in the Heisman race. But that did not stop the 21-year-old Longhorns star from sprinkling some praise on his fellow competitor. “I love Garrett. He’s the man. You know, he’s a coach’s kid, so knows ball. We went to Walmart last night and got food. He’s the man. I’m glad I got to build a good relationship with him.” While Manning has overstocked on praise for others, he might be in need of some for himself.
A ‘prove it or lose it’ road ahead for Arch Manning
Other than being a quarterback in Steve Sarkisian’s squad, Manning has yet another role. A few days back, the 21-year-old was spotted wearing a T-shirt, the message on it read, “Dopamine Dealer.” Now, ofcourse, when it’s Manning, the Longhorns fans never had much to worry about. Talking about the Manning hype? Analyst Lance Taylor summed it up in the best way possible. “Arch Manning is at the level I think it surpasses Tim Tebow coming back for his sophomore year. I think it is right up there with LeBron James coming into the NBA, I think that’s the type of hype we’re getting right now.”
What added to more hype is Manning catching the pro league spotlight. He has already been spotted, engrossed in a conversation with Los Angeles Rams General Manager Les Snead at Texas Pro Day. However, turns out that it’s time for the Manning hype train to slow down. After all, he is yet to prove himself when it comes to college. Definitely, there have been some heroic feats. For instance, in Week 5 against Mississippi State, he threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns. But his time of action has been limited. Thanks to Quinn Ewers.
And within the short active span, Arch Manning could come up with a 66.3% completion rate, racking up 969 yards and 9 touchdowns. So, the analysts do not have enough tape to judge how powerful the Longhorns’ quarterback is. On the other hand, Oklahoma’s John Mateer is already done proving himself. He led all FBS players with 29 touchdowns, gaining 3,139 total yards. On this note, for the ones taking a stand for Manning are now having a hard time convincing the Manning haters.
As Lance Taylor shared, “Talking to Chip and Zay in Austin yesterday, I told him, ‘Here’s what’s going to happen October 11th. You’re going to have an undefeated rolling into Dallas. It’s going to be Oklahoma, and you’re going to have a three and two.’ And Chip was like ‘Are you dr—k? Are you on d—s?’” So, it’s high time that Arch Manning earns his stripes in college football, after all, he has already earned the love.
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