Texas Player Quinn Ewers Speaks Out on ‘Pressure’ from Arch Manning

Quinn Ewers is in the spotlight, having led Texas to the College Football Playoff semifinals last season and choosing to return to Austin instead of entering the NFL draft, as fans clamor for the nation’s most famous backup quarterback, Arch Manning, to take the field.

Ewers, however, isn’t concerned about Manning lurking at QB2.

“There’s pressure for everything,” Ewers, now a projected top quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft, said in a televised interview with ESPN. “I think the pressure of playing quarterback at Texas has its own characteristics.”

Ewers says he and Manning, who he describes as “goofy,” are “good buddies,” something head coach Steve Sarkisian echoed in an interview with ESPN.com, addressing the perception that the two quarterbacks don’t get along.

“These guys are great, great friends. Nobody gets along better,” Sarkisian said. “There’s a real level of appreciation for what each guy does. Because they know the journey, they know the path, they know how we coach it. From Archer’s perspective, he sees Quinn having to go through some adversity, battling through an injury, having to deal with the criticism of being the quarterback at Texas, so to see him succeed, I think Archer is excited for Quinn.”

“On the other hand, I think Quinn recognizes Arch’s journey in his first year in our system and what that looks like. If you go back to Arch’s first year in the spring game, what that looked like, and then to see how he played in his second year in the system, Quinn has a great appreciation for what Arch does. So, ultimately, we’re probably going to need both of those guys at some point this season.”

Manning, Cooper’s son and nephew of Peyton and Eli, played sparingly as a freshman last season as Ewers led the Longhorns to the College Football Playoff semifinals, where they lost in the Sugar Bowl to Washington, 37-31.

Ewers’ return has sparked speculation that Manning could be traded in order to play.

But Manning, who flashed his potential in Texas’ spring game this year, said earlier this month that it was his “dream” to play at Texas and that he wanted to stick with it to eventually become QB1 in Austin.

Texas opens its season at home against Colorado State on Aug. 31 before traveling to Ann Arbor for a massive early-season showdown with defending national champion Michigan on Sept. 7.