Everyone likes to have a hot take for draft prospects. Jordan Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers’ brother, thought Arch Manning would slip out of the Top 10 in the 2027 draft. It did not sit well with Stephen A. Smith, kicking off a small tiff between the two.

Smith believed that Rodgers was way off the mark here, because he does not see a Manning fall out of the Top 10 in the draft.

“Then why wasn’t I a first-round draft pick? I’m a Rodgers!” Rodgers fired back at Smith on First Take.

“Yeah, you’re Rodgers but not a Manning,” Smith replied.

Even though Rodgers took it up in stride, it might have stung the former quarterback. The only other famous Rodgers in the draft is his brother, veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Jordan went undrafted in the 2013 draft, by which time his brother had played eight seasons.

“I’m just simply saying, he wasn’t Archie Manning, and then Payton Manning, and then Eli Manning,” Smith added. “I mean, damn, Cooper gets a shot, and he wasn’t in the NFL. I mean, this is a Manning.”

Rodgers, however, saw flaws in the young Manning’s game. He noted that the Texas Longhorns have good athleticism. But he’s nowhere near the level that Anthony Richardson was. He claimed that the young Manning’s athleticism is simply a counterbalance for his lack of efficiency.

If you’ve been following the journey of the Texas Longhorns quarterback, an overwhelming majority believes he’ll be the next Manning to carry the legacy of the name. He’s been debated as a No. 1 pick for quite some time now, even before he’d played his first down as a full-time starter last year.

2025 was rough for Arch Manning, having been labeled the season’s bust after playing poorly early in the season. Later on, however, he was able to correct the narrative a little bit with a better performance. Before the Longhorns lost to the Georgia Bulldogs, the quarterback had kept Texas in contention for the National Championship.

This season, as usual, the spotlight is once again on Manning.

He is the torchbearer of the Manning family and is expected to be the next great Manning. Both his uncles were drafted as the No. 1 picks, and they each won two Super Bowls.

Nevertheless, Rodgers’ core argument highlights the strict reality of modern NFL quarterback evaluation. In today’s league, a prominent family pedigree cannot mask fundamental flaws on tape. The case of Shedeur Sanders is a prime example of that. Despite being the son of Deion Sanders, the Cleveland Browns quarterback was chosen as the 144th overall pick in the fifth round. 

Meanwhile, Emory Hunt, previously on the Ross Tucker Podcast, emphasized that people need to perceive Arch Manning as Cooper Manning’s son, and not compare him to his uncles. Peyton and Eli are two of the greatest quarterbacks to have played the game, after all.

Putting Arch Manning into the mix would add more pressure to his already overburdened shoulders.