Texas Longhorns’ season-long quarterback dilemma reached a new level on Saturday night. The Georgia Bulldogs raced out to a 23-0 first-half lead over the nation’s No. 1 team.
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While Quinn Ewers started the game for Texas, it was Arch Manning who was handed the responsibility after the poor start. It seemed the famous backup’s time had finally arrived. However, Manning failed to give Texas a spark.
After he absorbed back-to-back sacks and fumbled away possession on the Longhorns’ final first-half drive, Texas turned back to Ewers, as he returned to the gridiron to open the third quarter.
In the midst of such chaos and rotation, it’s important to gauge the NIL ramifications of any potential move. With boosters and supporters footing the massive bills that bring superstars to town, their influence holds more weight than ever. Based on NIL valuations, Longhorns’ fans seem to want Manning taking snaps.
According to On3.com, Arch Manning has the fourth-largest NIL valuation ($3.1 million) in all of college sports. Ewers resides only four spots beneath Manning in the rankings, but his eighth-place standing ($2.2 million) trails Manning’s by $900K.
That deficit comes after an $85K rise in valuation over the past 10 weeks.
Which college athletes are NIL royalty?
Manning, despite his namesake, just missed out on the top three NIL earners in college sports. However, he is the third-highest NIL valuation in college football. Only the Colorado duo of Shedeur Sanders ($5.8 million) and Travis Hunter ($3.3 million) are pulling in more dough than Manning from their play on the gridiron.
Sanders leads all college athletes in NIL, but Hunter is third-highest. So, who is slotted in second place? That would be LSU gymnast Olivia “Livvy” Dunne, who is pocketing a cool $4 million in NIL this year.
Two other football players reside on the top-10 list. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe ($2.5 million) is sixth, while Miami quarterback Cam Ward ($2 million) is 10th. Both signal-callers, like Ewers and Manning, are among the most recognizable faces in college football.
Milroe and Ward are also lower-tier Heisman Trophy candidates and could be selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
