The former hero of the New York Giants is raising a new prodigy in the family but, supposedly, doesn’t want to see him outshine his legacy. The fans have been eagerly awaiting the debut of Arch Manning, the QB for the Texas Longhorns, on 21st September. The Longhorns achieved a smooth-sailing victory against the LA-Monroe Warhawks by a score of 51-3, and Arch played a huge part in it. The young QB was easily one of the highlights of the game and proved that he has a lot of the ‘Manning’ talent within his veins. Yet, Eli came out to highlight his own legacy rather than celebrate his nephew’s major debut.

Though Eli Manning has been nothing but supportive of Arch’s football ventures, it looks like he would still rather be known as the best player to come out of the Manning household than lose his elite status. After Arch Manning made his official college debut against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, the fans were mighty impressed with his skills as he recorded 258 passing yards and finished 2 touchdowns. While this is beyond exceptional for the 19-year-old quarterback, Eli Manning joked about how his debut was still far more impressive.

The SEC Network took to X to release stats of Arch Manning, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, and Archie Manning and what their stats looked like during their college debuts. Unfortunately for Arch, Eli’s 2001 debut saw him record 271 yards and 5 touchdowns. Eli reposted this tweet and wrote, “I win!”, which indicates that the Manning household is competitive down to its very last bone.

Obviously, Arch is an excellent quarterback, but will he be good enough to take over as a starter for Quinn Ewers? Apparently so, according to Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated.

“Let’s see Arch play”, as per CFB expert

During the game against the UTSA Roadrunners, Quinn Ewers was injured with an abdominal strain, which was when Arch Manning was brought in. He showed immense signs of potential when he threw out 223 yards and recorded 4 touchdowns, which left the fans wondering what it would be like if Arch were the starting quarterback instead of Ewers.

Prior to the game against the Warhawks, Forde was heard saying, “I can tell you this. They’re playing in the Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma, if Quinn Ewers goes three-and-out in that first possession, people are going to be saying, ‘Let’s see Arch play.”

And now that the fans have indeed seen him play, they want more from Arch and his explosiveness. It’s unclear whether he will be the starter yet again against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on 28th September but it is evident that the Longhorns’ fans will embrace the change. Some analysts are even calling for Arch Manning to start in their Week 5 game as Ewers remains questionable.

Mississippi is an SEC opponent, which means a unique challenge for Arch Manning. Additionally, it’ll give Quinn Ewers more time to recover from his injury as the Bulldogs will go into a bye-week after their Week 5 game.

If you want to know more about college football, please watch this ES Think Tank podcast interview with Doug Sanders.