Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning has struggled to show much consistency in his first full season as the Longhorns’ starter in 2025. However, according to legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady, it is far too early in Manning’s career to determine whether his struggles will continue throughout the remainder of his collegiate career.
Manning has shown some flashes of great play, most notably against San Jose State and Sam Houston, where he put up five touchdowns in a pair of dominant wins for Texas.
However, when it has mattered most against Power 5 competition, Arch has struggled greatly as a passer, completing just 53 percent of his passes in the Longhorns’ four games against those opponents.
As a result, some have been quick to judge Manning, which Brady believes is unfair given how inexperienced the former top recruit still is.
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In an interview this week with Sports Illustrated, Brady took aim at Manning’s critics, explaining why the modern age of social media plays a significant part in how young players can struggle to reach the lofty expectations placed on them.
“Before, players had the kind of ability to fail when people weren’t watching, to build that resiliency within themselves,” said Brady. “So I think it’s a real challenge these days for these young kids because Arch Manning, you know, seems like a great kid and great player.”
Further going into detail about Manning, Brady added that his uncles, Peyton and Eli Manning, went through similar struggles in college, which is why Arch deserves more time and patience to develop at his own pace.
“Peyton [Manning] had a lot of years to develop,” Brady said. “Eli [Manning] had a lot of years to develop and, you know, I was a college kid once, too, and I wasn’t the best quarterback at that time. And how people remember me after my pro career was a lot different than I remember me after my college career, which is a lot different than me how they remember me after my high school year. So give people a chance to learn and grow and develop and put them in the right situation.”
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The unfortunate reality for Manning is that playing for a team like Texas, which came into the season as true National Championship contenders, is naturally going to come with expectations to perform at a high level.
Chances are, all eyes will continue to be on Arch Manning as Texas looks to stay in the mix for a CFP spot this season, which may very well require the Longhorns to run the table and win out for the remainder of the 2025 schedule.
So if his struggles continue and Texas ultimately misses out on a CFP spot, criticisms of Manning will likely only get louder, regardless of whether Brady agrees with the narratives being formed about Arch’s future as a collegiate quarterback.
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