NFL 2026 Draft Predictions: Arch Manning Leads Odds

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00:00We're building up that enthusiasm and excitement for football.

00:04Donnie has basically had the countdown going the final few days of June.

00:08Next week is July.

00:10An NFL game will be played, albeit preseason, with training camp on the horizon.

00:16And collegiately, for the guys who will be in the NFL draft next year,

00:20fall camp and media day starting in just a few weeks.

00:24Early odds, Zeno, for the 2026 NFL draft, number one overall selection.

00:30Arch Manning, the quarterback for Texas, is that slight favorite at plus 230.

00:35Garrett Nussmeyer, the quarterback at LSU, a plus 360 price, second best.

00:40Drew Aller from Penn State, Lenora Sellers from South Carolina,

00:44tied for the third best price at 5-1.

00:46And Cade Klubnick, the signal caller once again at Clemson, a 9-1 price.

00:51Zeno, let's fast forward to the end of April 2026.

00:55Who's the first guy walking across the stage to greet Roger Goodell?

01:01Well, it's most likely going to be Arch Manning.

01:04I mean, whether, you know, he has a season that warrants Heisman consideration,

01:09whether he has a season that, you know, leads Texas into the college football playoff

01:14and the national championship are different conversations.

01:17By all accounts, Arch Manning is the next coming of Eli Manning,

01:22who was the next coming of Peyton Manning.

01:24So it all stands to reason that it's all in the family here.

01:27But I would be hard-pressed to believe that Arch Manning, you know,

01:33won't be the number one overall pick.

01:35The only thing I think that would delay him being the number one overall pick

01:38is if he decides, guess what?

01:39Going back to college for another year, right?

01:41Like, that's the only thing that takes it off the board at this point in time.

01:45If he lives up to the billing, and again, it's hard to see that he won't,

01:50even though we have a very limited sample size of what we've seen from him

01:53actually playing so far.

01:55By all accounts, most of these NFL scouts and GMs and the people who they talk to,

02:00who odds makers talk to, to set these kind of lines,

02:02are telling you that Arch Manning is going to be the prohibitive number one guy.

02:06We take a look at that odds market here, and Arch Manning does have the success.

02:10But there was a tweet that I saw just a few short days ago here

02:13from Brett McMurphy from the old ball coach, Mark.

02:16And I'm going to read this.

02:17Quote, most people picking Texas to win the SEC.

02:20They've got Arch Manning already winning the Heisman too.

02:23My question is, if he was this good,

02:25how come they let Quinn Ewers play all the time last year?

02:28And he was a seventh-round pick, end quote.

02:31How do we get that scuttle, bud?

02:33Because I like to believe in this as well, what ball coach is saying.

02:36How can you sell me on Arch Manning?

02:37This was always the plan, regardless if he was better than Ewers

02:41and could have won a championship.

02:42But we didn't want him to play yet because it's better for Arch Manning

02:46and his career heading into the pros here.

02:48How do we determine what we're getting out of Arch Manning?

02:50And if that statement from ball coach is in the realm of being truthful.

02:54It's not in the realm of being truthful.

02:56And he should know better.

02:57Look.

02:57Ah, come on now.

02:58I covered a team here in the Georgia Bulldog who had some guy named Justin Fields

03:07in the waiting, who ended up being the number four overall draft pick in the NFL draft.

03:12And he sat behind – do we remember who, Ben?

03:16Do you remember his name?

03:17It was Jacob.

03:18Jake Fromm.

03:19Jake Fromm, right.

03:20Who ended up being the fifth-round draft.

03:23Was it?

03:24No, it was Eason and Fromm, not Fromm and Eason.

03:26I was getting confused.

03:27But anyway, point simply being – and oh, by the way,

03:29Jake Fromm took Georgia to the national title game, right?

03:33Like, so coaches want stability.

03:38They want known circumstances to go out and win football games.

03:42In that world, okay, Jake Fromm and Quinn Ewers were known commodities for their coaches

03:47and their coaching staff.

03:49To change things meant you would have had to change certain things about the offense.

03:52You would have had to tweak certain things.

03:54You would have had to try and make things more amenable to a particular quarterback skill set.

03:59That's the reason why Quinn Ewers stayed.

04:00And it worked out because Texas went to the final four of the college football playoff, right?

04:05Like, so it was the smart move from that standpoint for them to stay with Quinn Ewers

04:11and wait until it happens.

04:13Justin Fields decides to transfer.

04:14He ends up the number four overall pick.

04:16Ohio State also ends up in the national championship game.

04:18I mean, you know, all these things – was it the semifinal?

04:22Whatever it was, I can't remember.

04:23You get the point.

04:24All these things happened for a reason.

04:26But just because Quinn Ewers started to have no impact on what Arch Manning is

04:30and what Texas will do this year.

04:32I think we can agree or disagree with Steve Sarkeesian's choice toward the tail end of the year

04:37when Quinn Ewers was clearly not healthy given that abdomen strain to continue putting Quinn out there.

04:43But because of what Ewers meant to the program, to the city of Austin and everything that he was

04:49living up to his dramatic billing, taking over the reins for the burnt orange,

04:53it was not a surprise.

04:55Donnie and I have gotten mad at each other for that very idea.

04:59Listen, you want to question why Quinn Ewers was out there in front of Arch, all good.

05:04But the idea that Arch Manning is going to stink because he was behind a guy that ended up being a seventh-round pick,

05:10that's not exactly the correlation.

05:12I do take a small bit of solace, I believe, in you and Donnie often seeing eye-to-eye and making me angry.

05:19Donnie expecting you to back him up.

05:21But you're on my side, Zeno.

05:23Huge win right there.

05:25He's just three clicks off.

05:26He's three clicks off right now.

05:27He's close, though.

05:28Mark's close.

05:31All right.

05:33Let's get to the current landscape of the National Football League

05:37and a veteran quarterback who we have known for a very long time.

05:41Zeno, I'm not sure we've gotten your exact reaction or thoughts on this.

05:45Maybe we have.

05:46We've spent so much time discussing Aaron Rodgers.

05:49It kind of all gets lost in the same conversation.

05:52Aaron Rodgers in that quarterback room with the Pittsburgh Steelers,

05:56saying earlier this week on the Pat McAfee Show, formerly of the Sports Grid Network,

06:01that this is probably it.

06:03He only signed a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers,

06:06basically meaning this 2025 campaign is his retirement tour.

06:12So, Zeno, how is that going to look individually for Aaron Rodgers?

06:15What is that going to look like for the Pittsburgh Steelers?

06:19You know me.

06:20I don't mind sitting on an island by myself,

06:22so I'm not afraid to sit here and say that I think it ends up in a playoff berth

06:25and possibly a playoff win for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

06:29Aaron Rodgers wasn't the problem with the Jets.

06:32Objectively, if you look at his numbers and the way he played,

06:35that was not the problem.

06:36Aaron Rodgers can still play football.

06:39Now, for the first time in the last two years,

06:41he finally has a competent offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith.

06:43He's got weapons galore all around him,

06:45not that he didn't with New York because he did.

06:47And he actually has a defense and a coach that brings stability

06:51and a certain amount of calm in everything that goes on here.

06:56When Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers decided to get together

06:59to choose one another to make this thing work,

07:01we all knew this was going to end up being a situation

07:04where it was going to be in his best interest.

07:07I think that, again, Arthur Smith being the coordinator that he is,

07:10and I have a very high affinity for him.

07:11Some people tell me it's too high, but nonetheless,

07:14I think that he's a great offensive coordinator.

07:16I think he's a good offensive mind.

07:18I think it's exactly what Aaron Rodgers needs here.

07:20Mike Tomlin hasn't lost nine games in a football season,

07:23let me think, ever.

07:25So I'm not going to worry about the Pittsburgh Steelers

07:28being a bad team because of Aaron Rodgers.

07:31He's not a bad team.

07:33The question is, is how good of a team can they really be?

07:37Aaron Rodgers wasn't the problem with the Jets,

07:38and he won't be a problem for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

07:40Yeah, as I was going to say,

07:42I don't think he lowers the floor for Pittsburgh by any means.

07:45It's just a question of how he elevates the ceiling

07:47because the Steelers have made the playoffs

07:50with a rotating cast and crew at the quarterback spot

07:52four of the previous five years.

07:53But as you alluded to,

07:55which would actually be the hottest of that take,

07:57to win a playoff game,

07:58something the Steelers have not done since 2016.

08:02Zeno, what is a better bet?

08:03Aaron Rodgers to win the 2025 MVP award at 75-1,

08:07or Aaron Rodgers to win the presidency in 2028

08:11at 100-1, or 1,000-1.

08:15Presidency, yeah.

08:16Presidency is probably a better, probably better odds, yeah.

08:19Yeah.

08:20He's not winning the MVP.

08:22He's not winning the MVP.

08:23There's too many other bets.

08:24But he's winning the president.

08:28There's a chance.

08:29That's fine, God.

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