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ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. Makes Clear Why Arch Manning Won't Appear on His NFL Draft Big Board
Arch Manning did not perform very well in what Mel Kiper Jr. called the most anticipated college football game in nearly five decades as Texas could only muster a single touchdown against Ohio State. He rebounded in his second career start last Saturday, throwing for four scores in a blowout victory over San José State.
Manning and the Longhorns still have the chance to be everything people expected them to be this season, but eyes naturally look ahead to next year and what his current draft stock would be. Kiper shared his latest take on the situation in a conversation with Mike Greenberg and Field Yates on the First Draft podcast.
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The long time draft expert does not believe Manning will be entering next year's selection process.
"I’m not coming out after one season," Kiper said. "History tells us you shouldn’t. I’d want to go through a year where he’s the guy, and you see that alpha, you see the guy, I've got a command of the offense, got a command of college football. He’s trying to figure it out, and if you’re tying to figure out college, you’re not going to the NFL in April. Forget about it. He’s back at Texas for Year 2 next season."
So if you were waiting to find out whether Manning will be on Kiper's big boards, there's there answer. No, he will not.
A lot can change but there's no denying Manning has to this point failed to put a lot of great tape out there. Playing consistently football against high-level college opponents feels like the bare minimum for an aspiring pro. If Manning does that he may be tempted to go pro, yet Kiper is offering some caution against that.
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Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.