Copyright Athlon Sports
Going into the 2025 college football season, Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning was the talk of the sport. He was in Heisman Trophy conversations, and there was a lot of talk of him potentially being the top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Texas also had College Football Playoff hopes once again, and the Manning frenzy was running wild in Austin. However, No. 11 Texas is 7-2 with losses to Ohio State and Florida, and the road to another College Football Playoff run looks more difficult. Manning has thrown for 2,123 yards with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions while adding 203 yards and six scores in the rushing game. Still, that is not what many expected, and his Heisman Trophy buzz has cooled off considerably. As far as the NFL Draft buzz goes, ESPN polled 25 NFL scouts and executives for the second time this year. And, when asked who the first quarterback taken could be, Manning was nowhere to be found. “In the latest poll, Indiana‘s Fernando Mendoza was the top vote-getter with 13 votes, putting him ahead of Oregon‘s Dante Moore (6) and Alabama‘s Ty Simpson (3). Notably, none of those quarterbacks received a vote in the first poll, and all have eligibility remaining,” Thamel wrote. On September 20, ESPN released its first poll, and Manning had one vote then. This time, he did not even receive one single vote from the executives. Oklahoma’s John Mateer, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers and Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby were the three quarterbacks who received one vote in this poll. In the initial poll, Sellers led the way with eight votes while LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier was second with seven, although Nussmeier didn’t receive any votes this time. Manning was also not listed in the first round of a recent mock draft by Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports.
