'He's not what a lot of people expect him to be' – Former Longhorns standout gets real about Texas QB Arch Manning
The hype for Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning has been building since the Louisiana native was playing middle school football in New Orleans. That's how it goes when you're an extremely talented player with a famous last name. After spending his first two seasons in Austin as a backup, Manning is set to take over […]
The hype for Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning has been building since the Louisiana native was playing middle school football in New Orleans.
That's how it goes when you're an extremely talented player with a famous last name.
After spending his first two seasons in Austin as a backup, Manning is set to take over as the Longhorns' starting quarterback in 2025.
Expectations are unsurprisingly high for Manning as he becomes "the guy" at Texas.
And tight end Gunnar Helm, Manning's former teammate at Texas, thinks the former five-star quarterback is going to live up to the hype.
Helm believes strongly in Manning in large part because the popular quarterback is "not what a lot of people expect him to be" off the field.
"To be honest with you, I think he's going to live up to the hype, absolutely," said Helm at the NFL scouting combine on Thursday. "He's one of my good buddies off the field. Just coming with what he's [gone] through — his whole life has been football. When he really has a chance to open up off the field, I think he turns a lot of people's heads. He's not what a lot of people expect him to be. He's very open if he gets comfortable around you. On the field, I know he's really fallen into that leadership role, as he needs to be. I know a lot of the guys are really pulling for him and super excited to play alongside of him."
I'm not sure any college football player has ever faced the kind of expectations and hype before becoming a full-time starter that Manning has faced the last two years.
It's not fair that Manning, who has remained remarkably grounded despite being one of the faces of the sport as a backup, is facing such high expectations. He certainly hasn't asked for any of this.
But the fact that Manning has been able to remain humble and focused on football, instead of the outside noise, is one of the main reasons why I wouldn't be surprised if he surpasses the expectations that have been placed on him.
There are undoubtedly going to be some ups-and-downs for Manning in 2025 (and that's a good thing — it'll help his development as a player), but thanks to his elite mindset, he should be able to handle those ups-and-downs better than most college athletes.
