Tankathon’s latest 2027 NFL mock draft has Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning coming off the board second overall, behind only Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, a projection that keeps the Longhorns’ starter at the center of next spring’s quarterback conversation.
What comes as a major surprise is the team being projected to land Manning. After a Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Atlanta Falcons were the team projected to draft the Texas standout.
Manning is listed at 6-foot-4 and 222 pounds. Through the early 2026 slate he has completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 500 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions, a 152.3 rating.
Those figures follow a 2025 season in which he threw for 3,163 yards, 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 61.4 percent of his attempts.
The board is still fluid. Dante Moore of Oregon and Notre Dame’s C.J. Carr sit immediately behind Manning among quarterbacks on the same mock. Ohio State’s Julian Sayin is projected later in the first round.
Texas’ most recent statement game against Ohio State offered the split tape NFL scouts have come to expect. Manning was seven of 14 for 60 yards and an interception in the first half. The Longhorns trailed 23-3 entering the fourth quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
He finished 23 of 37 for 195 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The second-half split was 16 of 23 for 135 yards as Texas completed a comeback that ranked among the program’s loudest recent wins against a top-ranked opponent.
From a Longhorns view, that finish matters more than the slow start. Manning stood in against pressure, worked through progressions and converted the fourth-down throws that decided the game.
The questions have not disappeared. Evaluators still want cleaner accuracy, fewer early misses and more consistent processing when the pocket breaks down. Those notes followed him through parts of 2025 before he closed that season stronger.
The name remains part of the story. Manning is the grandson of Archie Manning and the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning. Texas has treated him as a program quarterback, not a sideshow.
A No. 2 overall projection would put him in range of teams that need a franchise passer. Atlanta, Cleveland and other clubs with unsettled quarterback rooms already appear in early 2027 mocks at various spots.
Manning has not declared. The 2026 season is two games old. Tankathon updates player rankings and draft order after every contest and factors team needs into the board.
For Texas, the immediate job is simpler. Keep winning. Give Manning clean pockets. Stack starts that look more like the fourth quarter against Ohio State than the first half.If that happens, the mock slot may climb rather than fall.
If the early-game issues linger, Smith’s place at No. 1 will look less like a receiver-over-quarterback surprise and more like a statement about the class.
Either way, the Longhorns’ quarterback is already being measured for an NFL jersey. The rest of the fall will decide whether that measurement holds.
