Jordan Rodgers crushes Paul Finebaum for Arch Manning take, explains stance on Texas QB

Paul Finebaum spent his time leading into SEC Media Days pumping up Texas quarterback Arch Manning. He might be the one leading the hype train, even recently guaranteeing Manning would go into Columbus and beat Ohio State. So when Jordan Rodgers appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show Monday, he had to bring up the topic.

“I’ve heard some crazy things from you, Paul Finebaum, the last couple of weeks,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers finds himself on a different side of the argument when it comes to Manning entering the 2025 season. Mainly, he just wants to make sure everyone understands the level of competition Manning went up against last season. As good as the performances were, Rodgers believes even the SEC opponent left a little bit to be desired.

“I love Arch,” Rodgers said. “I have him as the fifth-best quarterback in the SEC… I think everybody got on the hype train because of what we saw in limited action. I think we just need to put that in perspective. It was against UTSA, Louisiana-Monroe, and the worst defense in the SEC last year, Mississippi State.”

In those three games, Manning threw for 806 yards, eight touchdowns, and two interceptions. Both turnovers came against ULM, the first start of his career. Most importantly to those in Austin, Texas won comfortably in all of them, keeping a then-undefeated season alive.

Some tougher opponents and situations will certainly line up across Manning in 2025. Maybe no environment more so than The Shoe, a game Finebaum has already promised Texas would win.

For Rodgers, he is not envisioning a world where Manning is a bad quarterback. Given the baseline we already have, it’s proven the talent is there to lead Texas to wins. Getting closer to the ceiling is where questions begin to pop up for him, especially compared to other quarterbacks inside the SEC.

“I think the best thing about Arch — I think he’s got a really high floor,” Rodgers said. “I think you know what you’re going to get. You’re not going to get a bad version of Arch. I just wonder if he has the upside, the arm talent, the creativity some of the other guys like (LaNorris) Sellers, DJ (Lagway), and (Garrett) Nussmeier have. That’s why I ranked him there. I still like him a lot.”

Debates surrounding the Texas quarterback will only grow in the coming days. Texas will be in Atlanta on Tuesday, and Manning will make an appearance — a situation Finebaum has compared to Tim Tebow in the past.