Joel Klatt: Arch Manning has 'solidified' Texas as 'bona fide national championship contender'

Through two starts as Texas quarterback, Arch Manning has been impressive in relief of Quinn Ewers. The Longhorns dominated against Louisiana-Monroe and had a strong second half against Mississippi State to stay toward the top of the rankings.

Manning’s performance has generated optimism about Texas’ potential to contend year-in and year-out. According to FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt, the Longhorns aren’t going anywhere after Ewers heads to the NFL after this season. He thinks they’re a “bona fide national championship contender” regardless of the starting quarterback.

Klatt pointed out the amount of up-and-coming talent around college football, and Manning is at the center of the movement. Texas has plenty of talent waiting behind Ewers, and that’s why the Longhorns should be viewed as title contenders.

“Ewers is their starter, and he’s going to be their starter, and they want him back, and he’s their leader,” Klatt said on The Herd with Colin Cowherd. “But Arch has solidified them as a bona fide national championship contender because now, it doesn’t matter if their quarterback stays healthy. They’re still a premier team in the country with him at quarterback.”

Manning has been impressive in Ewers’ place through two games as the starter and four appearances as a whole. He has completed 70.5% of his passes for 901 yards and nine touchdowns while adding 82 rushing yards and three scores on the ground. Texas now enters its bye with a 5-0 record, and while there’s a sense Ewers could return against Oklahoma, Manning’s presence is still a reason for optimism if he needs to step back in.

In fact, when Cowherd suggested Texas can win a title with both Ewers and Manning, Klatt didn’t hesitate. He wholeheartedly agreed.

“I think that’s true,” he said. “I think that that’s absolutely right.”

Joel Klatt: ‘The future of football is so bright’

Arch Manning is just one of the young stars around college football. He was in the same recruiting class as Nico Iamaleava and is one year older than Dylan Raiola – both of whom were also highly rated recruits.

Their quick success in the college game is why Joel Klatt is optimistic about the future of the sport. In the big picture, he said we likely haven’t seen the last of them.

“He probably doesn’t start at Colorado and Texas. That might be it,” Klatt said of Manning. “And maybe Alabama because of Jalen Milroe. … I think that the future of football is so bright. I think in 10 years, if you’re still doing this, we’re going to be talking about an incredible NFL Sunday matchup between Arch Manning and Dylan Raiola. Like, there are some young players – and I still consider him to be young because he’s inexperienced. Nico Iamaleava at Tennessee, maybe Jalen Milroe.

“There are some players in college football – Shedeur Sanders – we’re going to be watching these guys for a long time. Manning’s one of them, whether he’s the starter at Texas or not.”

Of course, the talent influx isn’t just at the quarterback position. Freshman receivers Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith have taken the game by storm. In fact, Klatt also pointed out the possibility they team up with one of the top quarterbacks at the next level.

“By the way, that’s not even the wide receivers that are young in the country,” Klatt said. “I know you brought up Manning, but think about like, 10 years from now, we could be seeing a Manning-Raiola NFL matchup, and one of them might have Ryan Williams on his team or Jeremiah Smith.

“These two freshman wide receivers – from Ohio State, Jeremiah Smith, and Ryan Williams, the true freshman at Alabama. The young players in our sport right now are incredible. And it makes me incredibly excited for the future of our sport.”