{"id":733426,"date":"2026-06-29T19:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/733426\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T19:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:30:09","slug":"arch-manning-julian-sayin-headline-quarterback-takeaways-from-manning-passing-academy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/733426\/","title":{"rendered":"Arch Manning, Julian Sayin headline quarterback takeaways from Manning Passing Academy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thibodaux, Louisiana — The annual Manning Passing Academy is not the place to make sweeping draft declarations, but it is the best offseason setting to see college football’s<\/a> top quarterbacks throw in the same environment.<\/p>\n

That made Arch Manning<\/a> the obvious headliner, but hardly the only takeaway from what I watched Friday. Manning still looks on schedule — though not fully baked — entering another massive season at Texas<\/a>, while Julian Sayin<\/a>, KaMario Taylor<\/a>, CJ Bailey<\/a>, CJ Carr<\/a> and others offered their own reasons to keep watching as the 2026 season approaches.<\/p>\n

Here are the answers to six questions that were presented after the Manning Passing Academy.<\/p>\n

1. Where is Arch actually at right now?<\/p>\n

Now heading into his fourth year of college and his second season as a full-time starter in Austin, Arch Manning’s development appears to be right on track as the once-heralded No. 1 overall prospect approaches another season of familiar sky-high expectations.<\/p>\n

If there’s anything to take from Manning’s showing this weekend, it’s that he possesses all the physical traits to be a high-level starter on Sundays. There are also signs, even in this setting, that he’s still developing the type of consistency as a passer that would allow him to have immediate success in the NFL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although there’s been chatter about potentially coming back for one more season following 2026, <\/a>if Manning can continue to build on his late-season 2025 performances, it will almost certainly be time to join the Sunday ranks. My top-line takeaway is that he looks the part of a Day 1 draft pick, but do not think the the 22-year-old looked like he’d ably start an NFL game today. That’s to be expected — 2026 first-rounders Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson will not debut as starters — but it does help contextualize that Arch is still a work-in-progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2. Who made you look up from your notebook?<\/p>\n

KaMario Taylor — and I’m not sure there’s a close second.<\/p>\n

At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, the former top 100 prospect from Macon, Mississippi, is a unique athletic specimen. One of the highest-ranked Mississippi State<\/a> signees of the modern era, Taylor is a fluid\u00a0athlete with explosive arm strength that was superior to every other passer in attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taylor unquestionably has the ability to develop into one of college football’s most electric playmakers if he can steadily improve as a passer this upcoming season while maintaining the ability to stress defenses with his speed, athleticism and power as a runner. He made two starts in 2025 and gave Mississippi State fans plenty to be excited about. His future is super bright.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taylor stands to be Mississippi State’s most exciting QB since Nick Fitzgerald — or maybe even Dak Prescott.\u00a0
\n Getty Images
\n 3. Did Julian Sayin look better than the last time we saw him?<\/p>\n

Julian Sayin was in the Heisman Trophy conversation until Indiana got after him in the Big Ten Championship, where Sayin was 21-for-29 with an interception as Ohio State<\/a> lost to Indiana. And then in the College Football Playoff, Miami really got after him and Sayin suddenly looked every bit the part of a redshirt freshman: his worst completion percentage of the season (63), two interceptions and five sacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We need to wait for a Week 2 trip to Texas to see whether those battles strengthened Sayin, but I really liked what I saw this weekend. Typically lauded with friendly descriptors like “polished” or “accurate,” I think there’s more there than meets the eye with regard to arm talent.<\/p>\n

A question that’s lingered since his days at Carlsbad High School, Sayin threw the ball with a little more zip and pop than what we’ve seen in prior settings. A cerebral assassin with high-level football intelligence and intangibles, Sayin should be positioned for a sizable step forward in on-field performance as the Buckeyes’ second-year starter.<\/p>\n

4. Which guys look the part before you even get into the tape?<\/p>\n

Two players stood out here for two very different reasons.<\/p>\n

The first was NC State’s<\/a> CJ Bailey. Standing at 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds, Bailey has a long, athletic frame with room to add. At first glance, his size and physical features reminded me a lot of former Tennessee and Michigan quarterback Joe Milton.<\/p>\n

Although Milton was probably further along physically than Bailey at the same stage of their collegiate careers, Bailey has a much better grip on the nuances of the position in his third year while he continues to add muscle to a more linear frame.<\/p>\n

The other player of note on first glance was Ole Miss<\/a>‘ Trinidad Chambliss<\/a>. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, Chambliss’ height is probably more accurately reflected around 5-foot-11. He’s got a trunk of a lower half, though, in a way that had me thinking of Russell Wilson from a frame standpoint. Both rely heavily on their lower body and compact build to generate consistent velocity.<\/p>\n

5. Who didn’t quite jump off the field?<\/p>\n

As I’ve noted previously, there’s always a degree of caution warranted when delivering praise or criticism from this type of event. With that said, I thought USC’s<\/a> Jayden Maiava<\/a> left something to be desired from a pure arm-strength standpoint.<\/p>\n

Somewhat of a mechanical thrower, the ball doesn’t jump out of his hand — especially when surrounded by peers — and he can struggle to generate consistent velocity into the intermediate and deep parts of the field.<\/p>\n

An intriguing name bandied about for the 2027 NFL Draft<\/a>, arm strength figures to be a big question mark heading into next season.<\/p>\n

6. Who looked the most ready to run an offense tomorrow?<\/p>\n

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the answer is Notre Dame’s<\/a> CJ Carr.<\/p>\n

Since high school, Carr has handled himself like a 10-year veteran, combining a high level of maturity and on-field confidence into consistently poised performances. Friday’s throwing exhibition was no different. The rising sophomore’s skill set was highlighted by his boringly good accuracy, clean mechanics and quick release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thibodaux, Louisiana — The annual Manning Passing Academy is not the place to make sweeping draft declarations, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":733427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[250660,8026,5049,79848,1607,315715,399,94478,25619,232050,240031,19504,5043,398,396,397,1778,1776,42225,19502,99,10536,5690,109420,14034,315714],"class_list":["post-733426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-2027-nfl-draft","tag-arch-manning","tag-cj-bailey","tag-cj-carr","tag-college-football","tag-college-football-quarterbacks","tag-football","tag-jayden-maiava","tag-julian-sayin","tag-kamario-taylor","tag-manning-passing-academy","tag-mississippi-state-bulldogs","tag-nc-state-wolfpack","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-ohio-state-football","tag-ole-miss-rebels","tag-sports","tag-texas-football","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-trinidad-chambliss","tag-usc-trojans","tag-will-arch-manning-be-drafted-in-2027"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}