Mike Tannenbaum claims Texas QB Arch Manning would be top pick in 2026 NFL Draft

Arch Manning announced in December that he would return to Texas in 2026, foregoing the opportunity to enter the NFL Draft. But what if Arch Manning, son of Cooper Manning and nephew of Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, were to come out in 2026?

If that happened, Mike Tannenbaum would take him with the No. 1 overall pick. The former NFL general manager loves Arch Manning as an athlete and was impressed by the way he played down the stretch with the Longhorns.

“You’re right and let me tell you why: he is a much better athlete than people realize,” Tannenbaum said Thursday on Get Up. “He has 10 rushing touchdowns and when you combine that with his ability to get the ball down the field, he averages about 7.83 yards per attempt, which is a really healthy number for the college game. You put that together with his ascendancy, he would be the first pick. He got a lot better from that Ohio State game on opening day.”

The hype was there; did Arch Manning deliver?

In terms of preseason hype, Arch Manning’s was at a level arguably not seen since the days of Tim Tebow. Expectations were high for a player who had seldom seen the field in two previous seasons in Austin. His season debut went poorly. Manning struggled as then No. 1 Texas fell to Ohio State, 14-7.

From there, Arch Manning experienced his share of ups and downs, as did the team. But over his last five games, against ranked opponents such as Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and Wednesday’s Citrus Bowl versus Michigan, Arch Manning finally started to put it all together. In those games, he threw for 1,368 yards, 11 touchdowns and one interception. He ran for another four scores.

With its 41-27 win over Michigan, Texas finished the 2025 season 10-3. Arch Manning totaled 3,163 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He compiled 399 rushing yards and 10 scores.

The improvement has been there. In a class projected to be weaker than in years’ past, Tannenbaum would be rushing to the podium to take Arch Manning.

“If you go back earlier in the year at Kentucky in particular, his completion percentage was like 44%,” Tannenbaum said. “It peaked at 77% against Oklahoma and you’re right, he got better as the season went on and that’s what you want to see when you’re evaluating a player — is he getting better? We know about his football character, off the charts, the lineage but as an athlete and the whole package, he would go to the top of the list if he came out.”