Arch Manning’s struggles at quarterback for the Texas Longhorns may have opened the door for redshirt freshman KJ Lacey to replace the highly touted NFL hopeful.
As reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Lacey is expected to get more reps with the Longhorns first team at practice this week. Manning remains the starter in Austin, but after upset losses to Oklahoma and Florida, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is apparently keeping his options open.
‘I just felt like we didn’t play good offensive football and we’re not playing great offensive football right now, so everything is going to be evaluated,’ Sarkisian told reporters.
‘It’s like, I have to evaluate everything.’
A four-star prospect out of Alabama, Lacey is described as a pure passer who can buy himself time in and out of the pocket with his athleticism.
Manning completed 14 of 20 passes for just 173 yards and a touchdown in the loss to the visiting Gators on Saturday after tossing two costly picks in Texas’ Red River Rivalry defeat to Oklahoma.
Arch Manning’s struggles at quarterback for the Texas Longhorns may have opened the door for redshirt freshman KJ Lacey to replace the highly touted NFL hopeful
A four-star prospect out of Alabama, Lacey is described as a pure passer who can run a bit too
Now, after beating top-ranked Ohio State and No. 14 Tennessee earlier in the season, Texas’ hopes for a College Football Playoff berth have suffered considerably, as have Manning’s chances of being a No. 1 overall draft pick.
As one AFC scouting director told Yahoo! Sports, Manning has been all over the place as a junior and the statistics certainly reflect that. While he has 11 touchdown passes and a 64-percent completion rate over the first six games, he’s thrown five picks and taken a whopping 17 sacks.
‘Bad decision, bad mechanics, bad throw,’ the scout said of one particularly bad interception against Oklahoma. ‘But he did some good things in that game. Really good. That’s where you’re kind of stuck as an evaluator. Like, how do I judge this?’
The problem, according to two other evaluators, is that Manning is late on decisions and has also faced accuracy issues.
Manning completed 14 of 20 passes for just 173 yards and a TD in the loss to the visiting Gators
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, center, and players prepare to take the field in Austin
‘He’s athletic,’ an NFC scout told Yahoo! Sports. ‘He has the tools, but it’s still coming together. ‘Right now he’s not ready, just as a complete prospect, of reading coverages, making good decisions and delivering accurate balls on a consistent basis. It’s just not there…. It’s coming. You see the glimpses. He’s tough. He’s competitive. He uses his legs.’
A grandson of legendary New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning and a nephew to Super Bowl winners Peyton and Eli, Arch was once thought as a safe bet to be taken first overall in the 2027 NFL Draft.
That no longer seems certain, and a growing chorus of fans and experts now expect he will return to Austin for his senior season to improve on his up-and-down junior campaign.
‘I think we tend to rush [Manning’s] development just because of his last name,’ the NFC evaluator told Yahoo! Sports. ‘… I don’t think it’s there yet. There’s a lot more polished guys that are farther along than he is.’
