Gunnar Helm promises Arch Manning will 'live up to the hype' at Texas

The hype around Texas quarterback Arch Manning continues to percolate as the former No. 1 overall recruit in 2023 begins to embrace his new position as the Longhorns’ QB1.

But as far as NFL-bound former Texas tight end Gunnar Helm, the much-ballyhooed nephew of Eli and Peyton Manning will more than “live up to hype” in Austin.

“To be honest with you, I think he’s going to live up to the hype, absolutely,” Helm said Thursday morning during a media availability at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, according to KVUE reporter Anne-Parker Coleman. “He’s one of my good buddies off the field, and just coming with what he’s come through, his whole life has been football. So when he really has a chance to open up off the field, I think he turns a lot of people’s heads. He’s not what a lot of people expect him to be. He’s very open if he gets comfortable around you.”

"I think he's going to live up to the hype absolutely"

Gunnar Helm gives the Arch Manning hype train some more fuel as he details how the young star is ready to take over the program

He echos what we've heard a good bit now which is that Arch is someone teammates flock to….… pic.twitter.com/xAVMPuSSBg

— anne-parker coleman (@anneparkercole1) February 27, 2025

One reason for Helm’s confidence in Manning is how he’s reportedly already asserted himself as a team leader inside the Texas locker room this offseason. And his familiar Manning self-effacing personality doesn’t hurt either.

“On the field, he’s really fallen into that leadership role, as he needs to be, and I know a lot of the guys are pulling for him and super excited to play alongside him,” Helm added.

Helm established himself as one of former Texas starting QB Quinn Ewers‘ favorite targets in 2024, leading the Longhorns with 60 total receptions for 786 yards and seven touchdowns. Helm will now look to turn heads at this week’s NFL Combine in Indianapolis to earn a potential Day 3 opportunity during April’s 2025 NFL Draft.

Jahdae Barron tells story of Arch Manning offering to take his laundry for him as a freshman

He’s still got another year to go before he can enter the NFL Draft and then head to the NFL Combine himself, but that hasn’t stopped Texas quarterback Arch Manning from entering the discussion in Indianapolis this week.

Former teammate Jahdae Barron opened up on the new Texas starting quarterback while meeting with the media at the annual scouting combine.

“He’s the most humblest kid I’ve ever been around,” Barron said via KVUE’s Anne-Parker Coleman, before going on to extol Manning’s virtues.

In fact, Barron had a story for the media that they’d likely never heard before either. It dates back to the 2023 season, Manning’s freshman campaign on the 40 Acres.

“I never even told this story,” Barron began. “I think second week he was there, you know, as a freshman, yeah, as a freshman he’s like two lockers down from me. He asked to take my loot to the laundry thing. I told him, like, ‘Arch, you’re good, you don’t have to do it.’ But he just wanted to do it.”

The talented freshman quarterback, who came in as one of the most high-profile recruits of the last decade, wanted to make sure his teammates knew he wasn’t above them.

“He wanted to show me that he wasn’t better than anybody, that he was still a part of this team and he was a freshman,” Barron said. “I told him he didn’t have to do it and I told him, ‘appreciate that.’ But sky’s the limit for that kid.”

On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report.