A Longhorn QB for the Saints?
If you were asked to name a recent “famous family” of the NFL that you’ve heard of, you would probably immediately think of the famous siblings Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce. If you were then asked to name an NFL famous family of the 2010s, you would likely respond with the quarterback brothers Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. If you, a football aficionado, were then told to choose between the two families as to which one the term “football dynasty” would apply, you would pause to scroll through your mental reference guide of stats and realize that their father Archie Manning played in the league from 1971 to 1984 and is considered their professional-football patriarch. So you can now imagine that the game has been an integral part of the Manning family for the past two generations or almost 50 years, with Eli retiring from the NFL in 2020 as the quarterback of the New York Giants.
Did you know there’s a third member of the Manning’s who is currently playing college football? Arch Manning, who is the nephew of the NFL’s legendary brothers and grandson of Archie, is the current starting quarterback of the Texas Longhorns. The team’s most recent season ended with a 13-6 record, which culminated with a trip to the Cotton Bowl Classic where they fell to Ohio State’s Buckeyes 38 points against the 14 points they were able to score. Throughout his season, Arch was able to score nine touchdowns in the 10 games he played and 61 completions out of 90 attempts, or a 67.8% completion rate. Later this year will begin his third season of college football as a redshirt sophomore at 20 years old. When you look at these stats, it’s no surprise he would be scouted to play in the upcoming NFL season.
Which team would be motivated to draft him? I would suggest the New Orleans Saints when you take into account his family’s history in the NFL and the result of the team’s most recent season. His grandfather, Archie, was on the Saints from 1971 to 1982 with an overall career of scoring 115 touchdowns during the 134 games he played and passing 21,734 yards for a 55.4% completion rate. The Saints most recent season ended with five wins and 12 losses which was partially due to QB Derek Carr’s season-ending injury in Week 14 and backup quarterbacks filling in for the remaining three games without a spot in the playoffs. Having a “dynasty” player would be a boost for the team and perhaps intimidate their opponent’s defense. Plus, because Archie’s number isn’t retired from the team and hasn’t been assigned to another player since he departed from the Saints, his grandson would likely inherit “number eight” and he could reuse one of his grandfather’s jerseys during their season’s throwback game!
