According to the Chinese calendar, it’s the year of the snake, not the longhorn. Heading into the 2025 college football season, Texas and their hotshot debutante of a quarterback, Arch Manning, were being listed as the betting favorites to take home both of the Heisman trophy and the National Championship.
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Well, those hopes were smashed almost immediately by the Ohio State Buckeyes on opening day, and Manning’s record NIL value has been in free fall ever since. At one point in time, Peyton Manning’s nephew was the beneficiary of a benchmark $6.8 million NIL valuation, but as his on-field struggles carried over into Texas’ match up with the Georgia Bulldogs, that total has now dropped to $3.6 million.
Ironically enough, it seems as if the Buckeyes are also the ones responsible for stealing his NIL crown, as their breakout wide receiver, Jeremiah Smith, is now the proud owner of the current largest NIL valuation in all of college football. Having already produced 2,000+ career receiving yards, as well as a national championship, Smith is one of the hottest products in the nation.
He may only be 19 years old, but the total value of his NIL dealings are currently being listed as $4.2 million over at On3. His 1,315 receiving yards were the most by any wide out in the Big Ten last year, and the same is also true for the 15 receiving touchdowns that he recorded.
Now, here we are with just a handful of games left in the regular season, and Smith is yet again leading the conference in receiving touchdowns. Once Smith finally declares for the NFL Draft (he will be eligible to do so in 2027), he figures to be one of the hottest commodities of his class, and barring any cataclysmic breakouts, he’ll be a lock to be the first receiver taken off the board.
Meanwhile, the general consensus sees Manning returning to CFB for another year despite being eligible for this upcoming Draft, as the hype around him has significantly cooled with each passing turnover. Suffice to say, from the Week 1 win to the pay sheets, Smith has officially done everything within his power to ruin Manning’s coming out party.
Thankfully, the heir to the throne of football’s royal family will have plenty of opportunities in the future to prove that he was always deserving of the hype that he had initially received throughout the past two years. Texas has managed to improve its rate of play as the season has unfolded, which bodes well for the overall development of Manning, but it’s also safe to say that he’s no longer the once-in-a-lifetime prospect that he was heralded to be.
No, that title belongs to Smith, who likely end up being one of the most popular names in both redraft fantasy and dynasty football formats over the course of the next two years.
