Texas is officially stepping into a new era. The QB1 spot has been in a fiery contention for over the last few years. Ever since Quinn Ewers provided a handy solution to the problem when he left for the draft, finally passing the torch to Arch Manning, fans started to root for a rebound. But given how the Texas depth chart looked outright different from the Quinn Ewers era and how Arch Manning is still an unproven talent as a starter, overwhelming success is not a guarantee. Meanwhile, another layer sneaked into the narrative as receiver Ryan Wingo’s vague status added to the woes of the past year’s receiver room injury horrors.

Wingo emerged as a key weapon in the offense, leading the Longhorns in his debut game. With a rare combination of size and 10.55 100-meter speed, Wingo managed to rack up four catches for 70 yards in his first game in the burnt orange jersey against Colorado State before dishing a 55-yard run against Michigan in Ann Arbor that narrowly missed a touchdown. His momentum continued till the end of the season, shining through a career-high 127-yard performance against UTSA, which included a 75-yard touchdown grab from Arch Manning. However, things turned a little sour for the St. Louis product in his recent preseason workout sessions. The standout Texas receiver has reportedly dealt with some vision issues, limiting his ability to see the field clearly during practice.

He has been suffering from vision complications since the last season, but thankfully, it didn’t wreak havoc on his performances. But lately, it turned more serious than before, calling for an immediate surgery. But what next for the Texas WR? How does he feature in spring game practice amidst the healing concern?

”Ryan Wingo, Texas wide receiver, is probably the leading; well, he and DeAndre Moore are the two leading receivers returning. It was reported that Wingo had LASIK surgery last week. He did indeed have LASIK surgery, I’m told, on his right eye, also had a scratch on his left eye, Jerry, that left him with some vision problems that they noticed about midseason,” Texas insider Bobby Burton talked about his physical condition on the March 15th episode of the On Texas Football podcast.

Now, it begs the most important question. When will he be ready to take the field again? Burton updated, ”Wingo has since had that surgery, LASIK surgery, and also had a procedure on his left eye as well. He’s been wearing goggles around campus; expected to get that taken care of and be ready, though, by the time of spring ball, which starts a week from Tuesday, March 25th.”

That’s good news in the Texas receiver room, but it seems Arch Manning still stands behind the Quinn Ewers era in terms of the receivers’ safety net.

Arch Manning has some glaring issues ahead in his path

Texas insiders Joe Cook and Justin Wells talked about the overhyped narrative surrounding Arch Manning in Austin. The youngest Manning has been a lifelong Texas fan and has never complained about waiting for two whole years. But now, as all the eyes are on him, Arch is dead focused on making the most of his chance as a first-year starter. The same goes for the fans. They have been waiting to see Manning take the reins and nail his job with back-to-back wins since Ewers started to show inconsistencies following an injury hiccup last season.

But there is some bump on the road. It won’t be a cakewalk for Arch to come and make things happen placidly. The extra hype has already put a gun on his shoulder, and it’s debatable how the kid will handle the pressure and perform in such a spot where he’s never been before. On the top, he won’t get that elite receivers’ support as Quinn Ewers.

Addressing that risk, Justin Wells divulged, “Arch is being Arch. And you love to hear that because, hey, they’ve lost a lot of receivers in the last two years. Tons of kids have been headed to the NFL. They’re having to replace a lot of guys. And so, you wanna see that timing. You wanna see them getting in sync, especially with a lot of these freshman receivers that are getting a lot of reps.” 

It will be interesting to see how the newbie receivers will come to Manning’s aid in his highly touted starter stint at Texas.