Shedeur Sanders spent pretty much his entire collegiate career battling scrutiny and nepotism arguments. Then there’s Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning, who is pretty much college football royalty. Former NFLer George Wrighster III claims there is a difference in how the narratives around their careers were spun.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“Why isn’t Arch Manning getting the same treatment as Shedeur Sanders?” Wrightster questioned the media on George Wrighster’s College Football Podcast. “Shedeur Sanders was called a nepo baby. He was called not that good, underachieving, he’s only there because of his daddy, and all of this stuff.
“I don’t believe either one of these players should be talked about in that vein. But I want you to pay attention how the noise surrounding Arch Manning has been. ‘Oh, number one pick’. ‘Best quarterback in college football.’ [That was] last year. This year, same noise coming into the season, and he’s just been okay.”
It was always going to be impossible for Shedeur Sanders to escape the nepotism talks. He is Deion Sanders’ son and played on his teams in college. However, while Shedeur Sanders was looked at as a problematic QB, Wrighster implied Arch Manning was always portrayed in a good light.
To be fair, Manning was dubbed a bust during the first half of Texas’ 2025 season, when nothing seemed to be going for him. It was only after a great performance against Mississippi State last year (346 yards, three touchdowns and one interception) that Manning began to reclaim some of the reputation. As the season went on, the insults died down.
Manning and the Longhorns won seven of their last eight games in 2025, even having Texas in contention for a playoff spot until they lost to Georgia. Suddenly, Manning stopped looking like a bust.
Shedeur Sanders, however, was in a different setting. He played in the Big 12 conference, where the matchups aren’t treated with as much fanfare as the SEC, where Manning plays. Sanders was fourth in the country in passing yards in 2024, with more than 4,000 yards on the board.
Shedeur Sanders was never looked at as a confirmed first-round pick. He eventually, and a little surprisingly, fell to the fifth round when the Cleveland Browns picked him up. That did more damage to the public perception of him; many doubted he’d ever start in the NFL.
But Sanders pulled on grittily after he was thrust into the fire as QB1 of the Browns in 2025. He won three of the seven games he started. Arch Manning, however, reentered the 2026 season with solid first-round projections.
There is a lot of hubbub around Manning’s NFL debut. The current face of football’s first family, Arch will follow in the footsteps of his uncles, Peyton and Eli Manning. They are two of the league’s best-known legends.
Arch Manning justified the hype around his 2026 campaign in the opener vs. Ohio State, and the offense completely turned things around in the fourth quarter. But since then, Manning’s performance has dipped.
He threw for less than 200 yards in the next two games and posted a total of 201 passing yards against Tennessee. Texas being 4-0 perhaps helps Manning out a little.
Quarterbacks like Jayden Maiava, Drew Mestemaker and Trinidad Chambliss instead have put up more impressive numbers, which should help their draft stocks. All three are among the top 10 passing leaders in the country; Arch Manning is at a troubling 59th.
College football analyst Joel Klatt recently weighed in on Manning’s play during the game against Tennessee. Of course, the Texans won. But according to Klatt, the Texans’ offense wasn’t elite at all.
“Their defense is outstanding… Their offense is not elite right now,” Klatt said on The Joel Klatt Show. “The reality is that outside of about 18 minutes of game time, Texas’s offense has been just okay. Arch has been just okay. Arch was not great. Again, he’s not anticipating windows. He doesn’t play in rhythm. It’s like he doesn’t quite see it. And if he doesn’t see it, he doesn’t pull the trigger.”
While it may not be apparent now, one loss will kickstart the hate for Arch Manning if he doesn’t improve. He’s already been through it once before.