Paul Finebaum sets Heisman expectations on Arch Manning, compares Texas QB to Tim Tebow

The season, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is going to be turning the keys to the offense over to quarterback Arch Manning. It’s going to be his first full season as a starter, but expectations are already through the roof.

ESPN pundit Paul Finebaum made an appearance on Get Up on Tuesday. There, he set massive expectations for Arch Manning, comparing him to Tim Tebow and suggesting he’ll be a Heisman Trophy finalist.

“The absolute roof,” Finebaum said. “I think there’s a reasonably good chance that Arch Manning will be sitting on the front of New York at the Heisman ceremony. That’s assuming that his team does what it’s supposed to do and compete for not only the SEC but for the national championship. I really believe they will.”

Arch Manning is, of course, the next quarterback in the Manning family that has produced Archie, Peyton, and Eli before him. He then came to college as a five-star recruit in the Class of 2023, where he was the top-ranked recruit overall. So, high expectations are nothing new.

Most of Manning’s experience has come in either garbage time or relief of Quinn Ewers when he’s battled injuries. That included two starts. For the year, he’d finish completing 67.8 percent of his passes for 939 yards and nine touchdowns to two interceptions. He also rushed for 108 yards and four touchdowns.

“I think Steve Sarkisian, who’s one of the most amazing play callers I’ve ever seen, made a critical mistake late in the year. He was way too banged up and was really ineffective. Had Arch Manning been instituted in the second half of that game, like Nick Saban did a couple of years ago with [Tua] Tagovailoa, I think there’s a reasonably good chance that Texas would have beaten Ohio State and won the national championship. They’re very capable of doing it again this year, I believe, also.”

Paul Finebaum is, of course, referencing the College Football Playoff semifinal, which Texas lost to Ohio State. The offense struggled, and key turnovers from Quinn Ewers did hurt the Longhorns. So, perhaps Arch Manning could have changed things and gotten them to the national championship against Notre Dame.

Certainly, Finebaum is massively excited for Manning. He even compared him to Tebow, a legendary college quarterback, saying, “Arch Manning is the best college football quarterback we have seen since Tim Tebow entered the scene in 2006.”

Arch Manning is going to have some massive expectations to live up to. He’ll be thrown right into a massive challenge this season too, with the Longhorns traveling to Columbus to take on Ohio State to open the season.