If you had told someone back in August that Arch Manning still had a chance to win the Heisman, they would have called you crazy. Fast forward to Week 11 and the tables are turning. No QB has bounced back better than Arch this season. Although Arch Manning is not on the same level as Fernando Mendoza and Julian Sayin right now, college football insiders believe Arch Manning can still end up in the Heisman discussion despite the poor start to the season.

On November 7, college football insiders Brad Crawford, Richard Johnson and Emory Hunt hopped onto the ‘CBS Sports Podcast’ and talked about Arch Manning’s chances of getting back in the good graces of Heisman voters. Richard Johnson threw a question to Brad: “Do you think Arch Manning can? He has looked better the last couple of weeks. Do you think there are enough spots against Georgia, against A&M later in the season? Maybe they can sneak in the SEC Championship if enough dominoes break right in front of them. Are there enough chances for Arch Manning to impress the way he’ll need to impress Heisman voters again?”

Brad Crawford surprisingly backed Johnson’s take. According to Brad, Arch Manning still can win the hearts of the Heisman voters. But it won’t be easy by any means because of the poor start to the season after a preseason full of Heisman expectations. Against Ohio State in the season opener, he completed a pedestrian 17 of 30 passes for just 170 yards, throwing one touchdown and one interception.

Although he flipped the narrative and put up the best performance of his life in the second-half comeback against Mississippi State, not enough people saw it nationally to make a huge impression amongst Heisman voters. What Arch can do now to win back the voters is ball out like he did during the last three games. No. 11 Texas will face No. 5 Georgia and No. 3 undefeated Texas A&M. Those games will get massive national attention, which gives Manning a legitimate chance to get his Heisman lick back.

Brad summed up Arch Manning’s case for the Heisman: “Obviously, Arch Manning could play himself back into this Heisman picture, but unless he has like, you know, two, four touchdown, no turnover games in those both matchups and Texas wins both.” Truth be told, it’s not easy to put four touchdowns on each of their schedules, especially the Bulldogs. But his last two games say otherwise: 6 touchdowns and 674 yards (including against a top 10 Vanderbilt team). That’s the price Arch Manning must pay to get back on the Heisman list.

Why Arch Manning isn’t far away from the likes of Julian Sayin and Fernando Mendoza

Then Emory Hunt chimed in on what the Heisman Trophy is really about: “It’s about narrative. So you can think about a Marcel Reed. Ty Simpson has a little bit more wildly because people are talking more about him, but I still feel like he isn’t going to have that Heisman type season as well. So Marcel Reed, Gunner Stock, if they continue to win in exciting fashion. Arch Manning, if they can continue to win games, and he turns his season around. We know people love to thrust him in there.”

Others, like Haynes King have mostly taken themselves out of contention. Despite having 3–4 bad games, Arch Manning is still going toe-to-toe with top Heisman contenders like Fernando Mendoza (29 total touchdowns) and Julian Sayin (23 total touchdowns). Yes, Arch Manning now has 24 total touchdowns.

Plus, the award usually goes to someone flashy who makes the plays that capture national attention. If Manning can continue to turn his season around and create those big moments, he could become a top candidate – even over players currently ranked higher than him.