Paul Finebaum reacts to Arch Manning having better Heisman Trophy odds than Quinn Ewers

Paul Finebaum is hearing the Arch Manning for Heisman buzz after he filled in admirably for Quinn Ewers in Week 3, but he’s pumping the breaks.

In Texas‘ Week 3 victory, Manning had nine completions for 223 yards and four passing touchdowns, while he also ran for another touchdown on a 67-yard scramble. It was an excellent performance, and the Heisman odds have reacted accordingly, with some books making Manning +1600 to win the Heisman, while Ewers’ odds rose to +1800.

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Evidently, Finebaum isn’t placing any bets on Manning to win the Heisman, at least not yet. He believes it’s an extreme overreaction, and that Ewers will eventually return to re-take his starting job for the Longhorns.

“Other than maybe Peyton and Eli doing the calculating there, I don’t know how you could,” Finebaum said, regarding Manning’s odds. “Ultimately, that is not realistic. Quinn Ewers will be back, he will get the start whenever he is healthy, and I don’t think Heisman voters are just going to simply go to Arch Manning because of the name. I like him very much, I’ve already said that, but it’s going to take a lot more.

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“Right now, I still think it’s Quinn Ewers’ team, unless he gets banged up, or unless he struggles, and then, can you imagine, the original Heisman favorite for this season getting pulled in favor of someone else? That happened a few years ago at Oklahoma. Caleb Williams came in for Spencer Rattler.”

While Finebaum does believe Ewers isn’t done as Texas’ quarterback yet, he shared during an appearance on First Take on Tuesday that he believes Manning is capable of taking Texas to a national championship, and that could lead to a quarterback controversy brewing for the Longhorns.

“He proved that he can take this team to the national championship,” Finebaum said. “I know that Quinn Ewers has a lot more experience than Arch Manning but what I saw from Arch Manning on Saturday, what everyone saw, has me convinced that there’s really not much drop-off. The only drop-off is experience.”

Moreover, Manning came to Texas as one of the most highly anticipated prospects college football has seen in a long time. A five-star recruit in the Class of 2023, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, he was the top-ranked quarterback in that class. He’s also the nephew of Eli and Peyton Manning and the grandson of Archie Manning, giving him an excellent quarterback pedigree. 

“This guy is a Manning after all. He’s been weaned on the game since the crib and I give him credit. What I really give him credit for was staying at Texas. Any other player would have departed for a couple million bucks and he could have earned that because of his name and his prowess but he stayed there to wait his turn and he finally got it,” Finebaum added.

“Do we have a quarterback controversy? Yeah, we’ve got the Heisman Trophy favorite, Quinn Ewers, at least until last week, now looking over his shoulder at the prodigal son. Quite frankly, I think [Steve Sarkisian] when Ewers is back will go with him but at the first sign of trouble the fans will want Arch Manning in there, quickly.”

Texas isn’t Arch Manning’s team yet, but if he does become the starter over Quinn Ewers, perhaps his Heisman odds aren’t that crazy. Time will tell, but the Longhorns will have a tough decision to make if the young star continues to ball out moving forward.

On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this article.