"He is not the best QB in their program": Dan Wetzel delivers verdict on Quinn Ewers amid his comparisons with Arch Manning

Quinn Ewers can testify the Texas fanbase is a tough one to please. Despite leading the Austin school to two straight College Football Playoff appearances, a Big 12 title and an appearance in their first SEC Championship game, the Longhorns fanbase has lambasted the signal-caller all year.

This was pointed out by Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel ahead of the Peach Bowl clash between the No. 12 Arizona State Sun Devils and the No. 3 Texas Longhorns.

"Of you ask the Texas fans, they're not sure Quinn Ewers is the best quarterback," he said. "Plenty of them are pretty convinced he's not the best quarterback in their program. There's lots of Arch Manning hype."

"You know Quinn Ewers is funny, it's the second trip he's led Texas to the playoffs so they're ready to run him out of town"

Nonetheless, don't take Wetzel to be a Quinn Ewers apologist. He pointed out that Ewer's performances aren't up to par with what is to be expected of a five-star who was the top recruit in the nation when he was recruited in 2021.

Arch Manning has Quinn Ewer's back despite rivalry

Despite all the talk of rivalry in the Texas QB room, the first to call Quinn Ewers a good friend is backup Arch Manning. Ahead of their Peach Bowl encounter, Manning decided to back his starter and send some encouraging words:

“Really, just what I've learned the most about Quinn is how he handles the media," Manning told Orangebloods during an interview on Monday. "He doesn't really let that get to him. He treats me the same.

"I know it's probably not easy for [him with] me being the backup, everyone's trying to talk about it, but he doesn't let it bother him at all. He's just one of the guys. One of my good friends.”

The Peach Bowl is set for New Year's Day at 1:00 p.m. ET at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, where Texas suffered its SEC Championship loss to Georgia earlier this month. The Longhorns are 13-point favorites at the moment. The game will air on ESPN.