CFB insider picks 4 SEC QBs over Arch Manning while taking a swipe at Diego Pavia heading into 2025 season

Texas quarterback Arch Manning will get his first chance to be the full-time starter for the Longhorns next season. After two seasons playing behind Quinn Ewers, he is stepping into the starting role in the 2025 college football season. Despite only having started a few games in his first two college seasons, Manning is already projected as one of the best QBs in college football by many analysts.

However, on Thursday, the SDS Podcast posted a clip from its most recent show on X. In the clip, analyst Aaron Murray discussed some of the SEC QBs he would take over Arch Manning next season. However, he also took a swipe at Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia, saying he would rank Manning above him.

"I would take (Nussmeier). I would take DJ (Lagway). I would take LaNorris (Sellers) over him. No I wouldn't take Diego (Pavia)," Murray said. "I think there's Mateer at Oklahoma, you go back and watch his tape from a year ago, I'm really impressed. He's another dude, super athletic, I think has a really good arm. I think because of the experience, I would probably take him right now over Arch."

"Not saying in the long term future, Arch in year two or Arch heading into the NFL in 2027 that he couldn't be a better prospect but if I had to pick a QB heading into next season. You know, a guy that's played a lot more football and I think has a lot of the attributes that you want, especially at the college ranks with his athleticism. I would probably take Mateer next."

Murray then explained where he would rank Arch Manning among SEC QBs heading into the 2025 college football season.

"So I mean, Arch to me, somewhere in that five, six, seven range," Murray said.

Arch Manning is the favorite to win the 2025 Heisman Trophy

While analyst Aaron Murray might not be willing to rank Arch Manning above other, more established QBs yet, the same cannot be said for the betting markets. According to FanDuel, Manning is the favorite to win the coveted award with +700 odds.

There are three players with sub +1000 odds to win the Heisman heading into the season. Manning is joined by LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier (+800) and Clemson QB Cade Klubnik (+900). While Manning is the early favorite, he has a lot of pressure on him to perform next season as a first-time starter.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Alexander O'Reilly