"He's not even the best QB on board right now": CFB analyst pumps breaks on Arch Manning hype amid Paul Finebaum's bold prediction

ESPN's Heather Dinich has poured cold water on Paul Finebaum's prediction of Arch Manning's potential for the 2025 season. On Tuesday's episode of ESPN's "Get Up," Finebaum shared that he believes the Texas Longhorns starting quarterback has a good chance of winning the 2025 Heisman Trophy.

The college football analyst predicts that Texas will compete for the College Football Playoff national championship.

"I believe, also, that Arch Manning is the best college football quarterback we have seen since Tim Tebow entered the scene in 2006," Finebaum said (Timestamp: 3:20).

Dinich responded to Finebaum's claims by pointing out the quarterback's lack of experience as a starter against the best teams in the country. She highlighted one of Manning's best performances last season in the Longhorns' 35-13 win against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Sep. 28. He completed 26 of 31 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns.

She is unsure if the Texas star quarterback has proven himself enough to determine if he can be a Heisman Trophy winner.

"Arch Manning needs time to grow, and learn and make mistakes," Dinich said (Timestamp: 3:54). "He's got four new starters on the offensive line. He lost his top three pass catchers from a year ago. This is going to be a different look in terms of new faces for that Texas offense.

"The other thing is he's not even the best quarterback on the board right now going into this season."

Dinich pointed out that quarterbacks like Garrett Nussmeier, Drew Allar and LaNorris Sellers have proven themselves to be more capable of winning the Heisman Trophy than Manning.

EJ Manuel believes the Texas Longhorns can win the national championship with Arch Manning

Former NFL quarterback EJ Manuel also chimed in on Arch Manning's potential this upcoming season as a starter and whether the sophomore player can lead the Texas Longhorns to a national championship.

He believes the team has a good chance of achieving their goal because Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has prepared the quarterback for his new role.

"The reason why you had Arch Manning sit for two seasons as a true freshman and then also as a redshirt freshman is for now, because you wanted him to be prepared," Manuel said on ESPN's Get Up (Timestamp: 4:48).

"You wanted him to kind of get some of those learning lessons in practice where it wasn't in the biggest stages with some of these situations."

Manuel added that the patience Texas has shown in developing Manning over the last two seasons gives him confidence that they could win a national championship.

The quarterback will have a chance to showcase his potential as a starter in Texas' season opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Aug. 30.