ESPN star Paul Finebaum was one of the conductors of the Arch Manning hype train just a few weeks ago. Now, however, it seems like he has decided to pump the brakes a little bit.
Before the season started, Finebaum had plenty of high praise for the young Texas Longhorns quarterback, going as far as to call Manning “the best player we have seen from every aspect since Tim Tebow.”
Through the first two weeks of the 2025 college football season, Manning has not exactly lived up to that hype, and it sounds like Finebaum has changed his tune a bit.
Arch Manning Preseason Hype
Entering the 2025 college football season, Arch Manning was perhaps the high-profile and most hyped player in the entire country.
- Nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning
- Top-rated recruit in the 2023 high school recruiting class
- Preseason Heisman Trophy favorite
- Projected as No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft
Paul Finebaum Buys Into the Hype
During his appearance on the SEC Nation pregame show on the SEC Network ahead of Texas’ showdown with the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes, Finebaum had some strong praise for Manning.
“It is the biggest opening game I think we have ever had, and there are a lot of reasons for it,” Finebaum said on the show. “But the biggest reason is Arch Manning. I’ve said it; I’ll say it again. He is the best player we have seen from every aspect since Tim Tebow.”
It did not take long for Finebaum’s words to look a bit ridiculous.
Manning Does Not Live Up to the Hype
Through the first two games of the 2025 season, Manning has not exactly lived up to the hype.
During the season-opening loss to Ohio State, the young quarterback missed badly on several simple throws, threw a costly interception, and often looked confused and lost on the field.
Manning completed just 17 of 30 passes in the game, and the vast majority of those completions came behind or within just two yards of the line of scrimmage as his Longhorns struggled to move the ball and didn’t score a single point until late in the fourth quarter.
While Manning did bounce back a bit during the team’s game against San Jose State last week, but many of those mechanical issues still plagued him a bit.
Finebaum Changes His Mind
Less than two weeks after proclaiming Manning as the best college football player since Tebow, Finebaum has seemingly changed his mind on the young quarterback.
During a recent appearance on First Take, Finebaum admitted that Manning “is not playing like an elite quarterback” and that he “jumped the gun” with his praise.
“I have been leading the parade on Arch Manning, we all know that. I’m backing up a little bit,” Finebaum said on First Take Tuesday, via SI.com. “… The bottom line is Arch Manning is not playing like an elite quarterback. He’s barely playing like a pedestrian quarterback. He had some good plays (vs. SJSU), but that game doesn’t mean anything. Ultimately, I think we all jumped the gun. Is he in the Heisman race? No, Arch Manning is not in the Heisman race as of today.”
Obviously, Manning could still turn things around and put together the elite season that most fans were expecting. But for now, that’s no longer what Finebaum sees in him.
