For Jets fans hoping to pin their next franchise quarterback dreams on Arch Manning, the picture is getting a lot murkier. The Texas star appears unlikely to be in play for New York, and for now the idea of Manning landing with a quarterback-needy team sitting near the top of the draft looks more and more like a long shot.
The latest sign comes from the draft chatter that’s been building for weeks. Rumors earlier this month suggested Manning may not even declare for the 2027 draft, and the mock-draft crowd seems to be moving in that direction. Mike Luciano of The Jet Press is the latest to send the Jets elsewhere, projecting New York to use the No. 6 pick on Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr.
Luciano described Carr as “might be the safest of the big prospects in this class,” a label many people once expected to hear attached to Manning instead.
That’s what makes this such a tough reset for casual fans. Manning carries the kind of name that jumps off the page immediately. He comes from one of the most recognizable football families around, with four Super Bowl rings in the lineage and, depending on how voters view Eli Manning, a potential second Hall of Famer in the family soon.
The draft history is loaded too. Archie Manning went No. 2 in 1971, Peyton Manning went No. 1 in 1998, and Eli Manning went No. 1 in 2004. Arch has been talked about as a possible No. 1 pick since high school, which is why the idea of him still being in college as a fifth-year senior in 2027 would have sounded far-fetched not long ago.
None of that guarantees Carr or Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker will turn into stars at the next level. The recent wave of first-round quarterbacks has plenty of people worried about what NFL offenses will look like once Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen begin to decline.
Still, Manning isn’t exactly a sympathetic figure here. He’s making over $2 million in NIL money, and if he does enter the draft, it wouldn’t be shocking to see a team convince itself to spend a late first-round pick on him. He does not, at least based on what’s been reported, carry the kind of character questions that may have helped drag Shedeur Sanders down to the fifth round.
For Jets fans who only start tuning into college football around playoff time, the advice is simple: broaden the board. If Manning is off the table, start learning the names that are actually on the rise. Carr, Miami’s Darian Mensah, and Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss are all on track to make the CFP, and they’re the ones worth watching right now.
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Jets Are Finally Addressing The Garrett Wilson Problem Fans Keep Seeing
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Even with a target share that ranks 13th in the league, the emphasis has been on making sure Wilson stays consistently involved rather than drifting in and out of the plan. Reich acknowledged how important it is to maintain that presence throughout a game, which is why the Jets are treating his usage as a weekly priority instead of something to revisit only after the fact. [Read more 🡒]