It’s hard to believe, but Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning is entering his fourth season of college football.

Arch, a five-star quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class, served as a backup during his first two seasons in Austin before stepping into the starting role as a redshirt sophomore.

The New Orleans native passed for 3,163 yards, 26 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in his first season as a starter. Arch also rushed for 399 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.

It’s still early, but there are plenty of analysts who believe Arch could be the first pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.

Unsurprisingly, there are also some folks who have speculated that Arch could take the same draft approach as his uncle Eli Manning, who refused to play for the Los Angeles Chargers (then the San Diego Chargers), the team that held the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft.

The Chargers drafted Eli and then traded him to the New York Giants, where he won two Super Bowls.

Will Arch Manning follow the same path as his uncle?

We have no idea which NFL team will have the top pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, but unless there’s a trade, we know it’ll be a team coming off the worst season in the league.

But regardless of who has the pick, I wouldn’t expect Arch to follow the same path as Eli — at least not based on some comments this week from Arch’s dad, Cooper.

Cooper, the older brother of Peyton and Eli, joined Love NOLA TV and dropped an interesting comment that suggests he’s at peace with whoever drafts Arch.

“There’s a lot of teams I don’t like,” said Cooper, who grew up rooting for the New Orleans Saints (where his dad played from 1971-1982). “And I have a feeling, if we’re lucky [and Arch is drafted], there’s gonna be someone — you never know who could land where — and all of a sudden I’m dripped out in Falcons gear.”

The Falcons are one of the Saints’ top rivals, so I’m sure Cooper has rooted against them for most of his life.

But it sounds like if Arch lands in Atlanta, Cooper, perhaps begrudgingly, will wear the red and black Falcons gear.

One thing worth noting in this discussion is that Arch could return to Texas for the 2027 season.

Maybe if a team with bad ownership and a poor front office — the Cleveland Browns or the New York Jets, for example — ends up with the top pick, then it’ll make Arch’s decision to return to Texas or turn pro a little easier (some have speculated that’s why Andrew Luck returned to Stanford in 2011, instead of getting drafted by the Carolina Panthers, who took Cam Newton after Luck returned to school).

Hopefully for Arch’s sake he lands with a franchise that’s willing to build a championship-caliber roster around him.