Fantasy Sports

Omaha 2.0: 4 Fantasy Football Landing Spots For Arch Manning

Where might the newest branch on the Manning quarterback tree make the biggest fantasy football impact?
Alan Goldsher|
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning | Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Pittsburgh SteelersNew Orleans SaintsNew York GiantsIndianapolis ColtsTexas Longhorns

We’ve closely followed Arch Manning’s quarterback arc for 22 years.

Yet he’s only 21-years-old. Go figure.

But you know who’s been following his career even more closely? His Uncle Eli, that’s who.

In an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, Eli Manning raved about his nephew, gushing that the kid has might just have a future in this league.

But what might that future be? Or, more germane for the purposes of the Fantasy On SI portal, what might that fantasy future be?

Here’re four teams who, assuming Arch declares for the 2026 NFL Draft, would welcome the latest branch of the Manning quarterback tree:

New Orleans Saints

This is about as no-brainer-y as it can possibly get. Arch’s namesake, Archie Manning, spent 11 years slinging balls in New Orleans, and unless Saints rookie Tyler Slough is Josh Allen (super-doubtful), the franchise will be in sore need of a franchise signal caller. This would be an ideal fit for the team, and an even better one for the league.

Indianapolis Colts

The only thing that keeps this from being as no-brainer-y as the Saints is the fact that the Colts might be hesitant to give up on former #4 pick Anthony Richardson and/or relatively pricey free agent signee Daniel Jones. But if both Richardson and Jones stink up Lucas Oil Stadium in 2025—which isn’t out of the realm of possibility—following in Uncle Peyton’s footsteps would be a ton of fun for everybody.

New York Giants

Yeah, I know, the Jints have two quality vets and a highly-touted rookie in the building, but Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston aren’t getting anybody to a Super Bowl, and Jaxson Dart’s ceiling is somewhere in the realm of Carson Wentz, so it would make perfect sense to snatch up Baby Eli.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Aaron Rodgers is ancient and Mason Rudolph is mediocre, so come 2026, the Steelers quarterback room will be in sore need of some young, talented blood. The organization has proven to be good at developing QBs—Big Ben, anyone?—and a Mike Tomlin/Arch Manning pairing might be a big win.

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Alan Goldsher
ALAN GOLDSHER

Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.

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