At some point in the 2025 college football season, QB Cam Ward started to be recognized by the masses as a potential first-round pick. Current Cleveland Browns starting QB Shedeur Sanders entered the season with some hype and questions, while QBs Jaxson Dart and Tyler Shough seemed to come out of nowhere to become considered in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft.
QB Arch Manning entered the 2026 college season with all the hype despite very little production on the field. Multiple early NFL mock
drafts had the Browns adding the Texas Longhorns quarterback, who entered the year as the assumed Heisman Trophy favorite.
Shortly before the season started, Arch’s grandfather, Archie Manning, threw cold water on the idea that his grandson would head to the 2026 NFL draft, then Arch’s play on the field almost doused the flames completely.
Against The Ohio State Buckeyes, Manning completed just 57% of his passes for 170 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Two games later, against UTEP, the Texas quarterback completed just 44% of his passes for 114 yards with the same one TD, one INT line.
At that point, most were screaming that Manning not only would come back for his fourth year with the Longhorns but should come back.
Fast forward to his most recent four games:
- 63% completion, 346 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT versus Mississippi State
- 76% completion, 328 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs versus Vanderbilt
- 63% completion, 251 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT versus Georgia
- 60% completion, 389 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs and a receiving touchdown versus Arkansas
Manning has returned to the top pick conversation for the 2026 NFL draft, according to Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice:
Tice went on to show his work, so to speak, with a thread of videos on Manning’s performances, starting with what has been considered one of his bad games:
As Browns fans are well aware, the supporting cast around a quarterback can play a huge role and is also noted by Tice in his thread of videos:
There are a lot of questions surrounding the 2026 NFL draft quarterback class. Perhaps the initial answer for most, Manning, is once again the answer.
Do you think Manning should be in consideration for the top pick in the 2026 NFL draft, including for the Browns, or should he still return to college for another year?
Share your thoughts in the comment section below
