The legacy of one of football's greatest quarterback families continues as Arch Manning takes over as the Texas Longhorns' starting quarterback in 2025. After waiting in the wings for two seasons behind Quinn Ewers, Manning is finally set to become the Longhorns' full-time starter.
Manning of course follows in the footsteps of his uncles, Peyton and Eli Manning, as well as his grandfather, Archie Manning, who all had lengthy NFL careers. All three were top-two picks in the NFL draft, and Peyton and Eli combined for four Super Bowls over their careers.
Though Peyton and Eli wound up having more successful careers than their father, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian sees one strong trait in Arch that he shares with grandfather, rather than his uncles—his mobility.
"I think there's something that's unique about Arch," Sarkisian told ESPN's Pete Thamel. "You can watch him throw and you see when you get up on him in person, man, he's a bigger guy than maybe people think. When you watch him throw, the arm talent and the deep ball is there. Then you watch him move and you're like, wait, this guy's a better athlete than I thought. Definitely got grandpa's gene. It's not the uncles, he got grandpa's gene."
Arch started two games during his sophomore season while Ewers was injured, and showed that mobility by rushing for 108 yards and four touchdowns, including a 67-yard touchdown run against UTSA.
During Peyton and Eli's careers, they were known as pocket passers, not their rushing ability. Peyton rushed for 667 yards and averaged 1.5 yards per carry throughout his NFL career while Eli ran for 567 yards at an average of 1.8 yards per carry. In contrast, Archie rushed for 2,197 yards over his career at an average of 5.7 yards per carry.
Given that Arch will likely enter an NFL much more predicated on quarterbacks being able to throw the ball and have the ability to run or escape pressure, his mobility is especially important.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Steve Sarkisian Reveals Trait Arch Manning Got From Archie, not Eli or Peyton.
