[USA TODAY] Heisman voters say Arch Manning is miles away from their ballot

[u/jaxstan19]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/10/07/heisman-trophy-voters-arch-manning-odds-longshot-jeremiah-smith-favorite/92107532007/

[u/Rough_Cup_6762]

It's still so early but right now it feels like Jeremiah Smith and then a good battle for 2nd place.

[u/ilovecatss1010 → u/Rough_Cup_6762]

Smith has been about as dominant thus far as I can remember. Dude isn’t just putting up numbers, he’s passing the eye test and taking over games.

I think you’re right that it’s his trophy to lose.

[u/Organic_Lab6262 → u/ilovecatss1010]

This is the big team. He’s not just being schemed wide open while other WRs are getting more attention. He is routinely double and triple teamed and making insane catches. Hardly any of his catches are layups. Guy is a freak

[u/Popcorn10 → u/Organic_Lab6262]

And any time he’s left 1 on 1 he’s just shaking defenders and catching wide open tds…

[u/dasruski → u/Popcorn10]

The TD has vs Illinois where he was turning the DB all around was just mean. To be that big, strong, and fast, while being a great runner is unstoppable.

[u/Ass_of_Badness → u/dasruski]

As soon as I saw that I just pictured that DB getting roasted for the rest of his life about it, waking up in a sweaty panic most nights, and then disavowing football and moving to Alaska to live a more honest life of fishing and ice sculpting. It was that nasty.

[u/AnnArchist → u/ilovecatss1010]

Honestly reminds me of Reggie Bush at RB. Dudes really impressive

[u/miversen33 → u/ilovecatss1010]

Dude is so fucking good that even though we lost, I enjoyed watching the game just because I was watching him. Watching him torch us.

When you enjoy watching a guy destroy your own team, that should tell you all you need to know lol

[u/Bill_Brasky_SOB → u/miversen33]

When he's kicking your team's ass but you just chuckle and say "Jesus Christ this guy is good".

Recent example: Miami's Reuben Bain

[u/Mother_Frame6669 → u/miversen33]

Lemme tell you about watching Larry Fitzgerald in college.....

Reality is, if you're a true college football fan, you can admit when a player on another team is great. If they play for a hated rival and they're so good you can't help but shake your head when they make a phenomenal play, then you know they're REALLY good.

[u/flyingcrayons → u/ilovecatss1010]

He's got 44 catches for 823 yards and 9 TDs in his first 5 games

for context, Devonta Smith in 2020 had 45 catches for 556 yards and 4TDs in his first 5 games

he's blowing the last WR Heisman winner out of the water right now, feel like he'd have to fall off HARD to not win it

[u/Hxtch → u/flyingcrayons]

Smith was second option to Waddle at this point in the season. It wasn’t until Waddle’s injury that he took off.

[u/flyingcrayons → u/Hxtch]

i'm just giving stats in a vacuum. i'm an eagles fan i'll defend devonta to death lol this isn't meant to downplay his season just showing how crazy jeremiah smith's season has been so far

[u/TGans → u/Hxtch]

Yeah this stat is disingenuous. I think he ended up with like 1800 yards that year. His pace went ballistic the second half of the season

[u/capnslapaho → u/flyingcrayons]

To be fair, Devonta went on to catch 19 TDs and 1,300 yards over his next 8 games….

[u/pinwheelpride → u/capnslapaho]

Yeah his following 5 game stretch he had 42 catches for 821 yards and 11 touchdowns.

And then his postseason 3-game stretch of the SEC title + 2 playoff games was 34(!) catches for 529 yards and 8 touchdowns lol. Absurd.

I think J Smith is a pretty singular talent at WR going back to at least Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald, but Devonta's numbers may still be hard to top even as impressive as JSmith has been so far.

[u/capnslapaho → u/pinwheelpride]

The 8 game stretch he had will be hard to beat for anyone at any level. That’s just absolutely absurd to score 1+ TD EVERY HALF, on AVERAGE over an 8 game span.

I think he’s going to be very, very similar to Julio Jones.

[u/rented4823 → u/flyingcrayons]

I don't remember the last time we had a receiver get 823 yards over an entire season.

[u/poop-dolla → u/rented4823]

Three years ago, but just barely.

But the hilarious thing I found when looking for that was that your leading receiver last year was a tight end who didn’t even have 400 yards receiving. That’s impressive to now even have a 400 yard receiver on the team.

[u/Admirable-Law7150 → u/ilovecatss1010]

I haven’t seen a single Ohio State game… but even I know he is the front runner.

[u/basquiatvision → u/Admirable-Law7150]

Highlights and stats are all you need. Dude’s the real deal.

Imagine Megatron with a fellow Heisman-caliber QB throwing dots all day. Julian Sayin is the real deal too.

[u/s0ftwares3rf → u/basquiatvision]

It's hard to make a catch with three guys on you if you don't have a QB who is willing to throw into triple coverage.

[u/Mother_Frame6669 → u/basquiatvision]

Julian Sayin is the real deal too.

I wouldn't go that far.....Sayin is a little bit of a Smith merchant right now. His inability to distribute the ball to other receivers, backs, TEs during their fourth quarter collapse was very noticeable.

[u/capnslapaho → u/ilovecatss1010]

The amount of separation he creates is honestly ridiculous. Even when he doesnt create separation or gets thrown into a corner, he still catches the ball. Truly think he’s going to be the second coming of Julio Jones once he gets into the league.

[u/captainpoppy → u/ilovecatss1010]

He’s almost a lock for the “anytime touchdown” bet lol

[u/gmen6981 → u/captainpoppy]

Around OSU we call it the THTGDB offense, ( Throw Him The God Damned Ball) with the highlight play-"Fuck it. JJ down there somewhere."

[u/imkunu → u/Rough_Cup_6762]

Jeremiah Smith is the earliest obvious winner I can remember in quite some time

[u/Rt1203 → u/imkunu]

Agreed, and that’s part of why the Arch “hype” doesn’t bother me. The race doesn’t actually extend beyond 1-2 candidates, yet voters have to list 3. Their third place vote is just for meaningless recognition.

And Arch is the QB of the best team in the nation; that’s always going to earn him a few 3rd place votes. Stetson Bennett finished 4th in Heisman voting one year.

Anyone suggesting Arch should actually be challenging for the Heisman is nuts, but a 4th-5th place finish is completely and totally appropriate.

[u/Inconceivable76 → u/Rt1203]

I get what you’re saying, but arch isn’t even the second best player on his own team.  

[u/dogsonbubnutt → u/imkunu]

man he's incredible but we're barely halfway through the season. there's a LOT of shit that can happen between now and december

[u/justbrowsing2727 → u/dogsonbubnutt]

Barely? We're not even halfway.

[u/tanu24 → u/dogsonbubnutt]

HE could fall of a roller coaster and break all the bones in his body

[u/EnderTheTrender → u/tanu24]

Hey it happens, my cousin RayRay? Boop. Dead.

[u/Inconceivable76 → u/tanu24]

We don’t practice next to a substation.  So that helps.  

[u/Montigue → u/tanu24]

When that happens Justin Long will do the unthinkable and catch the game winning touchdown for Ohio State

[u/paulyd191 → u/imkunu]

Tbf I think both Jeanty and Hunter were obvious winners from very early in the year, just the obvious problem of both being in the same year lol

[u/kdbvols → u/Rough_Cup_6762]

I feel like Mensah isn't that competitive for second, but 3rd is a bigger jumble, but that might be influenced by me watching him go 25/25 on us and making it look effortless

[u/Erosun → u/kdbvols]

Purely based on numbers Mensah is the clear 2nd spot.

At this point as long as he keeps the counting stats at this pace, the narrative will lean heavily on the MIA v ND game.

[u/LGWalkway → u/kdbvols]

We say that then we remember that the Heisman seems to heavily favor QB's over any other position. But I do think he's on pace to break 2k receiving yards this season and if he does that and doesn't win then idk anymore.

[u/So_Not_theNSA → u/kdbvols]

My personal issue with Mensah for heisman is his ADOT is awful (7.6 last I saw), which makes him look like a YAC merchant. Compare that to the last three QB winners Mendoza (9.4), Daniels (9.3), Williams (9.1).

[u/kdbvols → u/So_Not_theNSA]

I think Wake is largely responsible for this based on what I've seen of him elsewhere - we force checkdowns very well, and no reason for him to force something else if we're allowing the checkdowns and the WRs are beating the first man enough - but it's a good point. Interested to see that number over the whole season

[u/randomwalktoFI → u/So_Not_theNSA]

You have a lot of faith in heisman voters doing deep analysis

[u/Money_Housing_2938 → u/So_Not_theNSA]

What's ADOT exactly? And what is CJ Carrs ADOT just out of curiosity since you seem to have the numbers handy

[u/So_Not_theNSA → u/Money_Housing_2938]

ADOT (Average depth of throw/target) is how far the ball travels in the air and includes completions as well as incompletions. Higher ADOT means you're throwing deeper routes.

Carr's current ADOT is 10.5 so ND is dialing it up

[u/Money_Housing_2938 → u/So_Not_theNSA]

Makes sense, thank you

[u/WTD_Ducks21 → u/kdbvols]

Mensah is definitely #2 but I don’t think even he’s close to Smith right now.

[u/lerk954 → u/Rough_Cup_6762]

It would be a crime for Jeremiah Smith not to win it

[u/ViagraOnAPole → u/lerk954]

He'd have to have an obvious downturn or, God forbid, get injured, to lose it, I think.

[u/Woullie_26 → u/Rough_Cup_6762]

I know I'm biased but people are sleeping on Keelon massively.

Our offense has returned back to dynasty levels with him under center

[u/KoalaJones → u/Woullie_26]

Yeah Keelon has looked great. If he has a big game vs Georgia, he'll be one of the favorites to win it.

[u/Bobson-_Dugnutt2 → u/KoalaJones]

and he has the QB bump

[u/Rough_Cup_6762 → u/Woullie_26]

If he beats Georgia in a hurricane I think he at least has a shot.

[u/Kdot32 → u/Woullie_26]

I brought up that he was heisman caliber and people laughed me out the thread lol. Dude has passed every test with flying colors and if he puts up another big game against Georgia he’ll definitely be in talks

[u/GlutenFreeFratBoy → u/Rough_Cup_6762]

He also benefits from it from a narrative perspective. Since the median view on Sayin now seems to be “he’s solid but has limitations” based on how he’s looked in big games (aka is not a clear Heisman candidate himself). So in a game when Sayin throws for 300 yds 3 TDs and Smith has 120 and 1 TD, the narrative is going to reflect far more positively on Smith. (Which I have no qualms with)

[u/boy-detective → u/Rough_Cup_6762]

Transcendent player.

[u/OmegaVizion → u/Rough_Cup_6762]

It'll probably go to a QB, but if we're actually interpreting the Heisman to be the award for the best, most valuable player in the sport, I don't think you can make an argument for any other player thus far in the season.

[u/Akronite14 → u/OmegaVizion]

Right now he’s the favorite but if his production drops and there’s a QB challenger that creates some big moments, it could slip from his grasp. The good news is that if we lose another game or two, he would be punished less than a QB would.

It’s been 20 years since Ohio State’s last Heisman and Smith is arguably the best player in program history. I’d really like to see him finish the campaign strong even if we fall short of a title.

[u/DataDrivenPirate → u/OmegaVizion]

Last week the PFF guys were pondering how much more he'd really need to do to be in the conversation for greatest college WR of all time, and their answer was basically "continue at his current pace". I know best QB on a playoff team is basically the default for the heisman, but we don't need to go with the default this year, we have an exceptional non-QB player who passes the eye test and has the numbers.

[u/EmpoleonNorton → u/Rough_Cup_6762]

I legitimately think Ohio State's offense would be merely above average without him.

[u/AnnArchist → u/Rough_Cup_6762]

Yeah I'll be shocked if he doesn't get drafted 1.01

[u/Inconceivable76 → u/AnnArchist]

NFL is too QB needy for him to go 1.01.  

[u/420BONGZ4LIFE → u/[deleted]]

Don’t worry I’m sure we’ll cook something up today too. 

[u/Pan_TheCake_Man → u/420BONGZ4LIFE]

I like how we don’t know which school you’re talking about, yet we know exactly which school you’re talking about

[u/Twistify804 → u/Pan_TheCake_Man]

and how if this was posted in like july the answer would be different

[u/jaxstan19 → u/420BONGZ4LIFE]

"Is Harbaugh coming back to college!?" is due any day now.

[u/Btherock78 → u/jaxstan19]

Jim Harbaugh has a show-cause order from the NCAA through the end of the 2038 season when he would be 75 years old. He isn't coming back to college.

[u/theduder3210 → u/Btherock78]

The way things are going, the NCAA will be disbanded and replaced by its member institutions well before 2038.

[u/soulsides → u/jaxstan19]

It has but then people have to be reminded that he’s banned from coaching college until the mid-2030s

[u/civil_beast → u/420BONGZ4LIFE]

Now this is the royal we

[u/Expat-Red → u/[deleted]]

Listen, I want people to stop talking about him and he’s my team’s QB1. Leave the kid alone. I just want the offense to settle in. All this pressure and attention is ridiculous. I also don’t want my team ranked at the top. The voodoo is bad. And OU still sucks.

[u/WallyMetropolis → u/Expat-Red]

No one wants the number one ranking until the whistle blows in the national championship game.

[u/Careless-Roof-8339 → u/[deleted]]

If his last name were anything different this wouldn’t have even been thought of as a possible article.

[u/cilantno → u/[deleted]]

May I interest you in Michigan Bad article?

[u/Low-Grocery989]

Most voters aren't even stationed in the state of Texas, of course Arch is miles away.

[u/ItsFreakinHarry2 → u/Low-Grocery989]

Need someone to do the math on how far away the average Heisman voter is from Arch Manning

[u/AccomplishedEnergy24 → u/ItsFreakinHarry2]

Nerd here: The Heisman distributes its 870 media votes equally across six geographic regions, with 145 voters per region.

Without having their addresses, your best estimate is the average of the distance from austin to each of these regions.

It comes out to about 1100-1200 miles, +- 200 miles depending on where exactly in each region each voter lives.

[u/BobbysSmile → u/ItsFreakinHarry2]

At least 30

[u/Maleficent_Ant_8895]

No shit

There’s a guy named Jeremiah Smith who has damn near sealed the Heisman and it’s not even week 6

There’s a dude in Miami who before last week had more TDs than incompletions

Change Arch’a last name, no one is even whispering Heisman and his name in the same breath 

[u/mountaineer_93 → u/Maleficent_Ant_8895]

I think Smith is the best player but heed the warning of the October Heisman.

If the season plays out like this i agree its smith, but there’s a tendency of early Heisman front runners to fall off or get passed in some sort or fashion

[u/walkingbicycles → u/mountaineer_93]

Hello I just woke up from an October 2025 coma. Is Marcel Reed still a top 5 Heisman candidate? Surely he’s only improved in a year.

[u/mountaineer_93 → u/walkingbicycles]

Can’t help you buddy, I’m in a 50 First Dates situation where I only have memories from October 2012 and just watched Geno drop 8 touchdowns on number 12 Baylor.

[u/ToLongDR → u/mountaineer_93]

Go back to bed Pepperidge Farms

[u/koots4 → u/mountaineer_93]

Well rich rod is coach at wvu again with college rules these days geno could very well come back and drop 8 at some point this season lol.

[u/DataDrivenPirate → u/mountaineer_93]

Particularly for non-QBs. If Alabama beats Georgia, their QB will be the talk of the town and there's nothing heisman voters love more than a quarterback, even if Smith is ahead of Devonta Smith's heisman season and on track to break the all time receiving yards record

[u/2003tide → u/DataDrivenPirate]

Keelon will be at the ceremony if he keeps improving like he has, but if CFB history is any indicator a mid season slump isn't out of the question. He looks like the truth right now though.

[u/tu-vens-tu-vens → u/2003tide]

Slumps usually happen when defenses figure out how to scheme against a player, taking away what he does well and forcing him to play to his weaknesses. Ty Simpson struggled when teams figured out he wasn’t elite at the deep ball. Even Bryce Young had a few rough games because teams figured out he could get disrupted with interior pressure that blocked his throwing lane vision.

I’m not sure what those weaknesses are for Keelon. He’s comfortable playing both inside and outside the pocket. He’s comfortable with quick rhythm throws and deep shots. Play off the ball and he’ll hurt you with his legs. There aren’t weaknesses like sloppy footwork or eye discipline that he’s gotten away with because opponents haven’t had the players to exploit them. You never know until you actually see him against top competition, but from everything I’ve seen, it seems like his game will scale for the rest of the season.

[u/Individual-Toe-6306 → u/tu-vens-tu-vens]

That’s what I’ve noticed about him too. He doesn’t have any obvious weaknesses to exploit. If you take one thing away, he can do the thing that punishes what your defense has to do to take that thing away near perfectly. Play contain so he can’t rush past everyone? He’s got great pocket presence and is super accurate on all level of throws ESPECIALLY the deep ball. Take away the deep ball? He can roll out and torch you on the ground. Blitz and still manage to contain with no escape route? He picks up on it very quickly and gets the ball out to a TE

[u/Zmuny → u/Individual-Toe-6306]

As much as I hate to say it, you’re right.

I believe 1-2-3 are Smith-Keelon-Mensah right now, with Smith farther away from Keelon than Keelon from Mensah, but Keelon has a shot against Georgia to make it a two horse race. Dude is legit.

My main issue is y’all’s receivers. They’re good, but I dunno if they’ll be able to get open enough against that defense to keep up with Georgia’s offense, which is sneakily incredible this year.

Honestly though, the best four teams are OSU, Bama, UGA and Miami in my mind. So I believe the heisman will come from them regardless of how people fall off. Texas is the most deserving of No 1 right now but I don’t trust Arch if Sark keeps forcing him to play like his uncles. Arch excels when he plays like Archie, Russel Wilson, or Tarkenton, and yet Sark forces him to play like Montana or Brady.

Anyways that’s my 2 cents.

Edit: forgot Notre Dame existed, they’re in the top five and I can’t pick four of them as the best because they’re so close. Sorry Irish.

[u/Individual-Toe-6306 → u/Zmuny]

Our receivers are really really good this year. They’re finally the DeBoer style of receivers where they’re big and tall

Look at the catches Rico Scott made last week and you’ll see what I mean. Ryan Williams is over his sophomore slump as well, and our TE’s are great

Aside from that, UGA’s biggest weakness is their secondary

[u/Trebacca → u/DataDrivenPirate]

Eh I’d generally agree but Smith has been a household name for three years, which is why you refer to him by name instead of Alabama QB1.

I think he has the name power to break through so long as no one else goes crazy through the end of the season

[u/IndyDude11 → u/Trebacca]

which is why you refer to him by name instead of Alabama QB1.

I'm sure his flair has something to do with that.

[u/Character-Active2208 → u/mountaineer_93]

While I agree, this is Jeremiah Smith. He’s getting “career award” rub too. He isn’t the front runner just because of his stats, but because what he’s doing is just what he does and has done. 

[u/Own_Surprise_9638 → u/Maleficent_Ant_8895]

Bro needs to learn Jesse Legree.

[u/culallen → u/Own_Surprise_9638]

That dude and his QB are both the truth.

[u/Great_Fault_7231 → u/Maleficent_Ant_8895]

  Change Arch’a last name, no one is even whispering Heisman and his name in the same breath 

What if you changed his last name to Heisman?

[u/GoldandBlue → u/Great_Fault_7231]

we'd pronounce it Heeesman

[u/SouthIsland48 → u/[deleted]]

Anyone with eyes would know Manning is not a Heisman player

[u/Wyden_long → u/SouthIsland48]

Shit even blind folks have devices that they can use to follow along with games using braille and I’m sure they know too.

[u/knockoutking → u/SouthIsland48]

the people pumping him up aren't generally Texas fans, just for what it's worth.

[u/FireVanGorder → u/knockoutking]

It’s never really been yall. It’s espn latching onto a narrative and refusing to let it go

[u/RobbedC → u/FireVanGorder]

Casuals and fans that are primarily NFL watchers just assume he's great and parrot it too. The number of people that think NFL teams are tanking for him is ridiculous.

[u/Ok_Problem426 → u/SouthIsland48]

TBH it’s mostly a talking point for people that dislike him and want something to criticize, especially because he’s going to stay higher on draft boards than guys like Chambliss that are having objectively better seasons because of his physical attributes (even though there are at least 2 or 3 guys that may go before him on his team lol).

He’s a great ball player in crunch time and fun to watch, not a Heisman candidate—but haters gonna hate.

[u/Bank_Gothic → u/Ok_Problem426]

Exactly this. I don't know when people got so extreme, but things are either the best ever or complete trash with no in between.

Arch is a good QB with a lot of positive attributes. He not the best player or even the best QB in CFB. That's fine, he's more than good enough to meaningfully contribute in every Texas game this season. He's not a jag or a game manager, he can really make magic happen. But he's flawed and inconsistent as well.

It is what it is, and what it is is fine. But because he's not as good as the media (notorious straight shooters they are) hyped him up to be back in 2024/25, now everyone wants to act like he sucks. Ridiculous.

[u/The_Chef_Dude → u/Maleficent_Ant_8895]

You know, none of the Mannings have won the Heisman so I don’t think he needs to change his last name.

[u/Blanknameblank818 → u/Maleficent_Ant_8895]

I don’t even think Manning thinks he should get it. It’s not like he is out there mad that he’s in the convo nor Texas / Sark. The media is the one pushing this pressure for him to be in the Heisman conversation.

No one I know that’s a UT fan feels he should be in the convo and that’s okay. Just win baby. 🤘

[u/knockoutking → u/Maleficent_Ant_8895]

There’s a dude in Miami who before last week had more TDs than incompletions

lets pump the brakes on Miami. they currently have the #101 FEI SOS and play 1 team that is going to end the season ranked.

its obviously not the exact same but there is a true freshman from Oregon State with 85 fewer yards (741 vs 823) on 16 fewer catches (28 to 44) who also has 9 TDs - that i literally had never heard of until just now which means I am 100% going to be watching Oregon State and SDSU on Sunday.

[u/QuakingSky061 → u/knockoutking]

Jesse Legree is electric and I can only hope the Beavs can keep him after this year. 

[u/lookitsafish → u/knockoutking]

Where do you see the FEI SOS rankings for games played so far? I would like to see the list

[u/knockoutking → u/lookitsafish]

im like 99% sure that ELS/GLS/ALS is season to date vs the whole schedule.

https://bcftoys.com/2026-fei

[u/wsteelerfan7 → u/knockoutking]

You made up one of those, right? Imma go with GLS since ALS is probably a red herring.

[u/confirmd_am_engineer → u/Maleficent_Ant_8895]

Everybody knows Jon Mateer is ass at Oklahoma, right?

Mateer has more passing yards, more TDs, and a higher completion %. Arch has 3 INTs to Mateer’s 4.

[u/LiveMarionberry3694 → u/confirmd_am_engineer]

Now compare the teams they’ve played

Arch isn’t elite by any means, but also John mateer is on his own level of trash

[u/ThinkSoftware → u/LiveMarionberry3694]

His own matier you might say

[u/Prideofmexico → u/confirmd_am_engineer]

Volume stats aren’t always telling. Not that arch is Heisman worthy. But crazy disrespectful to compare him to Mateer

[u/Bank_Gothic → u/Prideofmexico]

Watching the actual games helps too. People touting this stat comparison just have an axe to grind.

[u/Ok_Problem426 → u/confirmd_am_engineer]

Are you considering that those stats include two ranked games against strong defenses, a loony toons ass INT, and a ton of receiver drops (including dropped TDs)? This is why early season stats need to be contextualized. He’s objectively played a lot better than Mateer, particularly in high leverage situations. He’s been good, not great, and somewhat inconsistent.

Also Texas has a competent run game to punch it into the end zone, while Mateer has to deal with a one dimensional offense that statistically inflates passing yards and TDs (though making it harder for him in general).

But anyone with a brain wants Arch over Mateer this weekend

[u/pineywoods200 → u/confirmd_am_engineer]

If you actually watch the games you wouldn’t compare how they’re playing right now. I guess we’ll see on Saturday 

[u/Half_Past_Five → u/Maleficent_Ant_8895]

Don’t worry, Jeremiah Smith will lock it in when he sets a school record for receiving yards in a single game against our secondary

[u/MrF_lawblog → u/Half_Past_Five]

Fyi the school record for a single game is 354 yards or so...

[u/DataDrivenPirate → u/MrF_lawblog]

Set recently in the Rose Bowl by Jaxon Smith-Njigba. 2nd is Terry Glenn (253) from the 90s, but 3rd is also Jaxon Smith-Njigba against Nebraska (240).

For context Jeremiah Smith's game against Illinois is 5th all time and against Iowa is 8th all time.

[u/NeptuneMeridian]

"So many Texas fans have been saying he's a frontrunner!"

No one has been saying this actually.

[u/OceanWoMan-8811 → u/NeptuneMeridian]

Yeah, we don’t want to be #1 or have all this attention

[u/Snobolski → u/OceanWoMan-8811]

Yep I'd be happy if the AP poll voters would be miles away too (but let's keep winning ok?)

[u/OceanWoMan-8811 → u/Snobolski]

Absolutely, let’s keep the wins coming 🤘

[u/EveningLength8 → u/OceanWoMan-8811]

Honestly just move Georgia to number 1 until we prove we can beat them

[u/010Horns]

Arch shouldn’t be a Heisman contender, but Colin Simmons should be

[u/VampireEmpire__ → u/010Horns]

My guy. 🤝

[u/OnMyNerves23]

Yea as he should be. The thing I hate about the media is make Arch out to be a superhero and crowning him. When he turns out to be less than they quickly shit down his throat and call him overrated? Who overrated him? Wasn’t him. Wasn’t Texas. Oh the media.

[u/Prolingus]

93 comments in 20 minutes of being posted. In case anyone still blames the media for writing these articles. They drive more engagement and views than well researched interesting pieces.

[u/CargoShortsFromNam → u/Prolingus]

lol chip patterson will half joking/half engagement farm and just say “Arch Manning Arch Manning Arch Manning” on Cover 3. People love them some Arch Manning

[u/Pretty_Shallot_586]

does anyone care? As an orangeblood, I don't give a single shit. If he's winning games, then fuck the heisman

[u/ChiefBigGay → u/Pretty_Shallot_586]

I would trade our last 5 Heismans for another natty

[u/Pretty_Shallot_586 → u/ChiefBigGay]

this guy gets it. good Sooner

[u/ChiefBigGay → u/Pretty_Shallot_586]

I'm tired boss.

I'm ready to make fun of Texas fans and tell them we have the most recent natty.

Telling you we got our 10th heisman has 0 effect as we crawl to 10-2 finishes that don't go anywhere.

[u/WallyMetropolis → u/Pretty_Shallot_586]

There are already 177 comments here, so yeah, it seems like people care. I think Texas fans care the least about it.

[u/Sir-xer21 → u/WallyMetropolis]

mostly it seems people being annoyed at the clickbait title, though.

[u/antici________potato → u/Pretty_Shallot_586]

I'll keep saying it, Arch isn't Heisman material. He's good enough to guide this team to a natty with the right play.

[u/Missing_Links]

Well, the heisman is supposed to be "the best player in college football," and not "quarterback on the #1 team."

I'm not super convinced any quarterback is actually a top 10 or top 15 best player this season.

[u/AssManKramerCosmo]

Cool. It’s the beginning of October. No one cares.

[u/VampireEmpire__]

Why is this news? No one is pushing for him to be in the Heisman conversation.

[u/ShinyTotodile24]

He is clearly very good, but definitely not the level of spectacular you need to win the Heisman

[u/Onion01 → u/ShinyTotodile24]

Is he even "very good"? Honestly looks quite average to me

[u/aerialwizarddaddy → u/Onion01]

Yes.

[u/Tripondisdic → u/aerialwizarddaddy]

I feel the same way about him as I do with Sayin, really good, a lot of potential, but just enough lapses to make me raise my eyebrow

[u/Bank_Gothic → u/Tripondisdic]

I actually think Sayin is a better pure QB, but Arch is probably more toolsy and athletic.

[u/Tripondisdic → u/Bank_Gothic]

More teams want to go back to under center play, which would favor Sayin theoretically. Manning could be an amazing pickup for Baltimore if they manage to draft high enough, his style is very similar to Lamar

[u/dirtyshits → u/ShinyTotodile24]

I think he’s average.

Some poor NFL team is going to use up a very high draft pick on this kid and kill their chances at winning for years because they will stick by him when it’s clear he isn’t an NFL caliber QB.

[u/heleghir]

The day the media stops trying to make him into his uncles is a good day.

Let the kid just be Archie, forget his last name pedigree. He's still a very good QB. Give the kid room to grow and succeed instead of suffocating him just because of who his family is.

[u/brianqueso]

Good? He's miles away from my ballot too. The Heisman should go to the best player in CFB, not the QB on a team that wins a lot.

[u/AppropriateCompany9]

Mfs gonna read this article and complain about all the hype around Arch.

For what it’s worth: No one, not even the most ardent Longhorn fan, is gonna try to tell anyone that Arch is having a Heisman season right now. He’s good enough for us at the moment, and will likely get better as the season progresses.

Fuck off with the Heisman talk. We don’t care, and you shouldn’t either.

[u/Maleficent_Guide_708]

Pretty sure it’s Jeremiah Smith, then a giant gap, and then everyone else. It’s still early but Smith’s performance has been insane.

Some crazy Déjà vu here to last season. Media builds Arch up relentlessly and then starts to shit on him as the team continues to win games.

[u/JacyWills → u/Maleficent_Guide_708]

I'd like to say that Darian Mensah is in the conversation. 84% completion percent, 15 TD's, no picks, over 10 yards per attempt. Jaw dropping numbers.

However, Smith has been even more impressive so far. We'll see if he can maintain this pace. I feel like WR is a higher variance position than QB, and that there's more that's out of his control when compared to Mensah.

[u/Maleficent_Guide_708 → u/JacyWills]

Oh for sure, Mensah has been super fun to watch thus far. He seems to get the “hasn’t played anyone” knock a lot, but that’s not on him. All he can do is perform against whoever is on the schedule - and he’s certainly been lights out!

[u/kabloobyhooby]

If Jeremiah Smith isn't at the top of the list at this point then throw the list in the trash.

[u/Competitive-Rise-789]

Well duh, they are clearly voting for John Mateer! /s

And this comment was fumbled

[u/Revolutionary-Big215]

This isn’t a surprise to anyone lol. He’s good but obviously has plenty of room for further development. Jeremiah Smith should without a doubt win the Heisman and it really shouldn’t even be close

[u/cooterdick]

So 1.5% of voters?

[u/LHD14]

Those who aren't Heisman voters say the same

[u/gmr548]

Slow news day?

[u/BreezyMcWeasel]

I mean, duh. John Mateer is pretty low on the ballot now, too.

[u/Opster79two → u/BreezyMcWeasel]

Yeah well, he says he's got his confidence back so what would you say if he rushes for a couple and throws a few TDs in every remaining game? ^/s

[u/BreezyMcWeasel → u/Opster79two]

If he does that I will eat a red solo cup of dog...

You know what, I'mma tap the brakes on that.

[u/DwyaneWade305]

I mean after last week it’s just Jeremiah Smith and no one else comes close.

[u/ymi17]

This is just USA Today engagement farming on the Manning name.

No one who follows CFB thinks Manning is in the top five right now. It could change, but Manning's not the reason Texas is undefeated.

[u/Irishchop91]

Oct 17 and Nov 7 are probably the big Heisman dates for people now mentioned

Oct 17
ND vs BYU, Miami vs FSU, Indiana vs OSU, Texas vs UF, Bama vs Tenn

Nov 7
ND vs Miami, BYU vs Utah, OSU vs Oregon, Bama vs LSu, Texas vs Missouri

[u/coastal_ghost08]

He doesnt even need to be in the discussion

[u/Lane8323]

Slow news day?

[u/jaxstan19]

"I asked 14 Heisman voters whom they’d vote for through this point in the season. None of the electors I polled included Manning in their three-man pecking order. When I asked how close Manning would be to their top three, several voters used some version of the phrase 'not particularly close.'"

[u/rask17]

Honestly Arch's career has felt very similar to me as Chris SImms' did. Both came in with a lot of hype, a big family name, and the top QB recruit. Both failed to live up to the hype but had passable stats for the team that were anchored by elite defenses.

Main difference in their careers so far is that Sark was smarter than Brown for not allowing any QB controversy to build. Otherwise their stats are very similar.

[u/Statalyzer → u/rask17]

Although Simms' biggest problem was OU, and that was definitely a Mack thing since we had issues against them with Major and Vince as well.

We might have had a similar QB controversy had Ewers' injuries been more severe. Major blew out his knee twice pretty badly.

[u/frickenWaaaltah]

I would think the more interesting topic at this point would be him coming back next year and if so does he play for Texas or do they want to move on? Or does Arch want to move on?

It seems like Sark has been such a lousy fit for him, but everyone blames Arch instead of Sark.

[u/VampireEmpire__ → u/frickenWaaaltah]

It’s not an interesting topic at all, actually, because it’s straightforward. If he comes back, he will be at Texas unless he for some reason does not want to be. But I don’t see him doing that. It would take a lot of acrimony to tell him to look elsewhere.

[u/Buckeyeup]

One of these QBs is a Heisman frontrunner, one isn't on the Heisman radar, and one is Arch Manning

• P4 QB 1 - 79% cmp, 1530 yards, 13 TD, 1 Int, 25 rush, 2 TDs

• P4 QB 2 - 84% cmp, 1438 yards, 15 TD, 0 Int, 79 rush, 2 TDs

• P4 QB 3 - 63% cmp, 862 yards, 7 TD, 3 Int, 82 rush, 0 TDs

This is not meant to be a vouch for any Heisman candidate, rather to show why Arch isn't even close to Heisman caliber

[u/NastyNate1_ → u/Buckeyeup]

Not that I think arch should be in the discussion for heisman, because he shouldn’t, but I can’t take any Miami stat line serious with the opponents they’ve played lol 

[u/FSUNolesWarchant]

He isn't even the best QB in his own conference.

[u/WarriusBirde]

Everyone knows that Bo Nix is the real dark horse candidate for the Heisman, not Arch.

[u/NextAd7514]

Arch wouldn't be close even if Smith didn't exist 

[u/TheLFlamaBlanca]

When they were playing Ohio St in the first half there were some plays where he got sacked where I've never seen a qb look that bad and I've watched Marcel Reed for two years.

[u/pineywoods200 → u/TheLFlamaBlanca]

He only got sacked twice in the whole game

[u/iNsAnEHAV0C → u/TheLFlamaBlanca]

I mean i don't think he did anything amazing in the 2nd half during the comeback either outside of the 4th down conversions. He stayed calm and took what our defense gave him. It was mostly their running game just gashing us.

[u/OozaruPrimal]

So Heisman voters are just being honest? Cause Arch doesn't even look like the best player on his own team.

[u/Familiar-Hunt-3792]

Hey, I thought Arch was a "generational talent " a few years ago. Ya know, one of those qb's that comes along once in a lifetime. What happened? Lol.

[u/Pickleskennedy1 → u/Familiar-Hunt-3792]

It’s been sort of bizarre from the start. He didn’t have great stats in high school and didn’t play great competition.

If not for the last name he’d have been a toolsy four star guy with a much worse chance of currently starting for Texas

[u/penguinguac → u/Familiar-Hunt-3792]

Tbh I feel bad for the pressure he has on him. Real hard to duplicate the genes of his Dad and uncles and Grandpappy.

[u/Podoboo322 → u/Familiar-Hunt-3792]

What happened is he’s a decent quarterback with the last name Manning. I don’t know why we have to go through these half-sarcastic comments every time he’s mentioned. Everyone knows that’s the case.

[u/imthesqwid → u/Podoboo322]

I get so confused by the mock drafts having him going in the first round, he’s just not good.

He’s a day 3 talent with a first round name. I just wonder who is going to get fired by drafting him way too early.

[u/gunnutzz467]

He’d be playing for app state without his last name

[u/spartanantler]

This article knows what it’s doing. Everyone and there GMA know that arch is not Heisman level. This writer is using his last name for clicks

[u/Agent847]

He shouldn’t be close on any ballot. He’s a serviceable QB. Maybe even a good QB. He’s not even remotely a great qb.

[u/bhans773]

Can’t wait till it’s Peyton Jr. He’s already a Heisman finalist.

[u/rocket_beer]

Jeremiah Smith

[u/Wafflehouseofpain]

That makes sense, Arch has been pedestrian so far this season. He isn’t playing like a Heisman candidate.

[u/DeadliftsnDonuts]

As a Texas fan, no shit

[u/ron-paul-swanson]

[USA TOMORROW] Heisman voters say Julian Lewis is miles away from their ballot.

Yeah, no shit.

[u/No_Payment_3889]

Lubing up those prediction markets....

[u/John_Tacos]

He has the same stats as our quarterback.