Arch Manning needs to call his Uncle Peyton to help him get over the biggest struggle holding him back
There’s quite a resource in the young quarterback’s phone he could reach out to.
On Thursday, On3 interviewed several college coaches who have coached against Texas Longhorns’ quarterback Arch Manning. There were a lot of takes on why the first-year starter has struggled out the gate.
But, there was one take in particular from an anonymous defensive coach which stood out to me.
“I didn’t feel like pre-snap, he was comfortable dissecting us,” an opposing coach said. “He’s in a position where he’s like, ‘Man, I’m trying to get my stuff right, and I’m not in a position where I’m dissecting the defense.’ I could tell the picture was changing on him; he was never comfortable. He’s a young quarterback, he’s really good, but he’s a young quarterback. How can we mess with his eyes? That kind of kept him a little off base.”
There’s definitely a source Arch Manning could reach out to for pre-snap help.
Arch’s uncle, Peyton Manning, was one of the best in the NFL before the play even started. He could dissect a defense with a few looks, set protection, audible a formation, and/or call a hot route best-suited to beat the defense.
“Peyton changed how a quarterback was playing everywhere in football. Because he controlled everything at the line of scrimmage,” said former Colts general manager Bill Polian, who selected Manning No. 1 overall in 1998. “And so, nowadays in high school you see kids doing that, everywhere in college they’re doing it. It’s being done to great effect in the NFL. And that’s his legacy, the fact that he was able to control the game by a pre-snap look, play selection, post-snap execution all by himself with just game-plan help from the coaches — it was a giant step forward for the position.”
This sort of thing takes time. It wasn’t like Peyton was already doing this in high school and in college at Tennessee. But, it also takes a certain quarterback to be able to learn, harness, and execute. Arch could serve himself well to reach out to Peyton to ask for some early indicators on what to look for and how to beat it.
Texas Longhorns News
An in-state challenger has emerged for Texas Longhorns’ top 2027 target
The Red Raiders are coming hard for the Texas Longhorns’ top 2027 target.
A lot is always made of the speed of the game and how it affects young players.
One anonymous coach mentioned this as something Manning will eventually get used to. Maybe it will be this season. Maybe it will be next year.
“You could tell when he wasn’t hitting on some of those throws, it was a mental thing,” the coach said. “He’s just learning to play the game, and with that comes time.”
Arch’s uncle was elite at knowing what was going on pre-snap and being quick but not fast. For his career, he averaged just over two seconds from snap to throw. Peyton’s ability to quickly process things before the ball was snapped and utilize a high IQ when it came to coverages, pressures, and what his personnel was doing was insane and fun as hell to watch in real time. It’s not going to come easy, but Arch could certainly benefit from calling up his uncle to ask for some pointers.
The above video is a perfect example of knowing what he had pre-snap.
Arch knew he had man coverage across the board. He also clocked the outside linebacker coming hot off the edge. So, because he knew he had man coverage and he knew DeAndre Moore was running a slot fade, this was his first and only progression given the situation. So he not only trusted his guy to make a play if he put it in the right spot, he also had the internal clock dialed and knew exactly how long he had to get rid of it.
There’s certainly a dog in there for Arch. It’s just going to take time. I know patience isn’t exactly something we have in this new day and age of instant gratification and the national media didn’t help much with how much preseason hype he received, but folks need to relax with the armchair hot takes. It’s only been three weeks.
“The freaking pressures that he’s under, being in Texas and being the guy, you could tell, there’s a lot of throws that he rushed and that are no-brainer completions when he settles down,” one opposing coach said. “And he just got to settle in and transfer weight off his back foot, drive the ball, as opposed to fading away. Throwing some swing passes over the back’s head.”
