Dan Orlovsky claims Arch Manning will still be the No. 1 pick in 2027 NFL Draft despite struggles

Throughout the offseason, there were massive expectations set on Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning. It was essentially taken for granted that he’d become the No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick in whatever year he chose to come out. Then, the season began, and so did his struggles.

Manning hasn’t been bad during his first season as the full-time starter at Texas. He also hasn’t lived up to those, potentially unfair, expectations. Still, there is plenty to like and ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky is still thrilled with what he’s seen from him. So much so, while making an appearance on Get Up on Thursday, he predicted that Manning is still going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.

“Arch Manning is going to be the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft,” Orlovsky said. “I’ve never felt better about that than watching this past week… He’s custom-made for the NFL game.”

There has always been a ton expected of Manning. That’s, in no small part, because of his last name and the legacy that he has to live up to. Being the top-ranked recruit in the Class of 2023 and spent the majority of his first two seasons as a backup who flashed when he did see the field. All of that added to a mystique that he hasn’t lived all the way up to this season.

Still, from Orlovsky’s perspective, Manning isn’t the issue. Instead, he has issues with the roster around him, which is why he also picked Oklahoma to win Red River during the segment.

“Let’s be very clear about Texas,” Orlovsky said. “It’s probably as big of a roster whiff as we’ve had in years. It’s arguably the worst offensive line in the SEC. They don’t have a tailback who’s a difference maker right now. Their best receiver is a redshirt freshman named Parker Livingstone. This is not a very good football team.”

Through five games this season, Texas is 3-2. Those three wins have come against Group of Five teams that generally wouldn’t be considered in the same weight class as Texas. The losses include a tough road game against Ohio State and an SEC game against Florida.

For the season, Manning is completing 60% of his passes for 1,151 yards and 11 touchdowns to five interceptions. He’s also rushed for 160 yards and five touchdowns.

Notably, Orlovsky isn’t the only one putting Texas’ issues somewhere besides Arch Manning. Analyst David Pollack also feels that the offensive issues are less on Manning and more on the play calling from Steve Sarkisian.

“What we’re gonna see from the national media, it is what it is,” Pollack said. “But it’ll be a pile fest on Arch. It’ll be a big dog-pile and everybody’s gonna crap over Arch because he hasn’t been playing great. And he hasn’t. He hasn’t played great, but let’s not let the most important part off the hook. The most important part is I think Sark, I think that’s a big deal. That’s a big person that deserves some of the blame… You have to look back a little bit and say Sark is 2-8 against Top-10 teams at Texas. We’re gonna talk about Arch because he’s not playing well. But whose job is it to make sure he plays well? It’s the coach’s job. It’s the offensive play caller’s job, who is Steve Sarkisian.”

The pressure and expectations aren’t going to go away any time soon for Manning. Still, he can help to change the narrative in the next stage of the season. That means turning it around in SEC play by having a big game against Oklahoma this weekend.