"It's not a panicked urgency": CFB Insider points out the advantage with Arch Manning's family for Steve Sarkisian

After two years on the bench, Arch Manning is finally being handed the keys to the Texas Longhorns offense in 2025. For Fox insider Joel Klatt, that will end up being an advantage for the quarterback and Longhorns’ head coach Steve Sarkisian.

After having Quinn Ewers start for the first two years of Manning’s college career, the New Orleans native had a couple of years to learn the offense. Sarkisian also faced little pressure from the family or the player to take the field ahead of time.

“Steve Sarkisian is going to be the benefactor of an incredible amount of patience from a young player and his family. Now, granted, this family has such a unique perspective and the benefit of seeing everything: from MVPs and Super Bowls down to college success.

So the urgency for the family is there, yes, but it’s not a panicked urgency like you would get with most players and families,” Joel Klatt said.

Of course, Arch Manning did see some playing time for the Longhorns and even started a couple of games, helping him showcase his skills. He now inherits a team that is on the short list of championship contenders even though they lost considerable talent.

Having Arch Manning under center will also give the offense an added dimension, as the freshman will offer athletic traits Quinn Ewers did not have.

“He was able to learn and develop, for two years under Steve Sarkisian. And now that offense is going to look a little bit different because of his skill set running the football.

“I’m not saying they are going to dive into the Vince Young zone read of Texas past. No, but I am going to tell you, though, when he can take off and affect the defense scrambling, that’s huge,” Joel Klatt explained.

Arch Manning is able to make plays with his legs. - Source: Imagn

Texas is looking for its first championship since the 2005 season when Vince Young and the Longhorns defeated the USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl to claim the title.

Where does Joel Klatt rank Arch Manning and Texas?

Despite his positive spin on Arch Manning and the Longhorns coming into the 2025 season, Joel Klatt has Texas ranked as the second-best team in the country at this point.

"This is a team that continues to build their roster with elite level recruiting, you know they’re gonna do well in the transfer portal, the offense is going to look a lot different. The major question I have is, this is a big belief in Arch right now, but the major question I have is that their offensive line was so good (in 2024). Who’s going to be up front?

“They’ve got to replace four of the five offensive line starters. That’s going to be the most difficult part”, Klatt said.

While second in the ranking isn’t a bad spot, they are still behind the Penn State Nittany Lions according to Klatt. The biggest difference between both teams is experience, as Penn State will be led by Drew Allar, Kaytron Allen, and Nicholas Singleton.

Just like the Longhorns, the Nittany Lions made it all the way to the CFP semifinals this year and still have enough talent to make a run at the championship in 2025.