Jordan Rodgers clarifies, defends Arch Manning comments after blowback from Steve Sarkisian, Paul Finebaum

After Jordan Rodgers told Paul Finebaum he had Arch Manning as his No. 5-ranked quarterback in the SEC, Steve Sarkisian had jokes Tuesday. Later in the day, Rodgers responded.

Rodgers made his comments on Finebaum’s eponymous show on Monday as SEC Media Days got underway, and Sarkisian mocked those remarks on Tuesday. The Texas head coach jabbed the former Vanderbilt quarterback, joking he called Manning “hot garbage” while talking about the dialogue around his new starter.

During a special episode of SEC Now Tuesday night, Rodgers clarified and defended his thoughts. He explained why he put Manning at No. 5 in his quarterback rankings.

“Let me clarify what I think about Arch,” Rodgers said. “I had him as my fifth-best quarterback in the SEC and people lost their minds over that. I think the hype is a little overblown right now. I’ve also simultaneously said, I think he has the highest floor, maybe, of any SEC quarterback because you know exactly who he’s going to be.

“I do question the ceiling because right now, with what Texas lost [after] last year – everything on the offensive line, almost everything on the defensive line, their top three pass-catchers – this is a completely new team depending on a quarterback that there’s a little bit of a question mark of, can he be a guy that can change the game down-in and down-out? That’s what I have question marks [about], because his talent is good. I don’t know if it’s great. I think he’s going to be a solid quarterback. Can he be a guy that can take them to a national championship? I don’t know yet. … So I didn’t say ‘hot trash,’ okay, Sark?”

In his quarterback rankings, Rodgers had Garrett Nussmeier at No. 1 ahead of his second season as the starter at LSU. Florida’s DJ Lagway is No. 2 followed by South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers and Oklahoma’s John Mateer at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

Rodgers’ ranking was juxtaposed with Finebaum’s excitement to see what Manning will do at Texas in his first year as the starter. He notably guaranteed the former Five Star Plus+ recruit would lead the Longhorns to a victory over Ohio State in Columbus as the excitement grows.

Those remarks made their way back to Sarkisian. He shaded Rodgers during his appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show on Tuesday while praising the way Manning handles the high expectations.

“Some of it is great to snicker at. Some of it is enjoyable,” Sarkisian said. “Think about this: It’s July 15, and how much is being talked about the Week 1 matchups? Us at Ohio State, LSU at Clemson, ‘Bama at Florida State. I can’t tell you one Week 1 matchup in the NFL. There’s this idea in college football, like we get to celebrate this really cool sport that we have. You guys get to talk about it. You can say Arch Manning’s the greatest quarterback since Tim Tebow and Jordan is gonna come on here and say he’s hot garbage.”