For the second straight week, Arch Manning and Texas walked off the field with a loss to an unranked opponent, and the latest defeat came after another flat fourth quarter. That was enough for CBS analyst Damien Harris to give the Longhorns quarterback a new label on the CBS Postgame Show after the loss to Florida.
Harris said he’s done using Manning’s last name and will refer to him only as “Arch.” His point was blunt: Manning “isn’t playing like a Manning,” and he believes the quarterback is getting too much benefit from the family name.
“Until further notice, I’m just gonna call him Arch. Because if you take away the last name, you have a below-average quarterback.
That’s what he is, and that’s how we need to evaluate him moving forward. He does not see the football field well.
He does not deliver a pretty football. He is not clean in his [operation]… Mechanics don’t look good.
Game management doesn’t look good. Nothing about Arch Manning’s game looks good,” Harris said.
He kept going, making it clear he sees the issue as bigger than one rough outing. “Arch Manning isn’t playing like a Manning.
He’s playing like Arch. So until further notice, he’s known as Arch.
We need to stop holding on to his last name saying, ‘We’re expecting more. We want to see more.
There’s potential out there.’ No.
Arch is a bad quarterback right now. And until he becomes a good or a better quarterback, Arch.
That’s all you’re going to get out of me. Arch.”
Some college football fans backed that view, arguing the surname may be protecting Manning from a benching that another quarterback might already have faced. “Facts.
He would be on the bench if he didn’t have that last name,” one user replied. “Finally honest evaluation I don’t think ESPN is capable of doing it because they’re scared of the last name,” another wrote.
“This right here! Too much hype but the eye test never lies,” a third declared.
The numbers aren’t helping Manning’s case, either. He doesn’t have the kind of raw production that would even make him a clear first-round pick, much less the consensus No. 1 selection people expected when he first committed to Texas several years ago.
Because of that, more analysts and fans are starting to wonder whether Manning would be better off skipping the 2027 NFL Draft and staying in college for another season to try to turn things around. If the losses and uneven play keep piling up, though, his future could take a very different turn.
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