"He’s gonna have a pretty damn good season": Ryan Leaf claps back at fan for comparing Arch Manning to him in bold Heisman take

Washington State legend Ryan Leaf has responded to a fan who compared him to Arch Manning after the Texas quarterback’s frustrating Week 3 outing.

The fan, in a post that has attracted almost 600k views, wrote:

“I watched ppl around me do the 2-hand twist on Arch for a whole year just for him to be Ryan Leaf.”

damien23

@damien23

I watched ppl around me do the 2-hand twist on Arch for a whole year just for him to be Ryan Leaf.

Leaf, in response to the comparison, implied that Manning would have “a pretty damn good season” if he could replicate his college form. He wrote:

“So Arch is gonna lead the nation in passing, be a 1st Team All American, win the Sammy Baugh QB of the year, finish 3rd in the Heisman, and play for a Natty??? Sounds like he’s gonna have a pretty damn good season!!”

Ryan D Leaf

@RyanDLeaf

So Arch is gonna lead the nation in passing, be a 1st Team All American, win the Sammy Baugh QB of the year, finish 3rd in the Heisman and play for a Natty??? Sounds like he’s gonna have a pretty damn good season!! #Hookem???

As a junior at Washington State, Leaf passed for 3,968 yards and 33 touchdowns, a conference record in the Pac-10 at the time. The former quarterback led Washington State to the program’s first Pac-10 championship.

Arch Manning was a favorite in many Heisman projections before the season started. However, the quarterback’s Heisman stock has since taken a nosedive after struggling to deliver in Week 1 against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The quarterback only completed 17 of 30 passes for 170 yards, a touchdown, and an interception as the Longhorns lost 14-7 to the Buckeyes. However, he had a dominant presence in Texas’ Week 2 38-7 win against SJSU, which gave a glimmer of hope that he might improve.

But after struggling in the Longhorns’ 27-10 win over UTEP, there are fresh concerns.

Arch Manning admits need to “play better”

Manning himself has pointed out the need for an improvement in his performance, amidst speculations that he might be benched. He said:

“I’ve got to play better. A lot of quarterbacks - a lot of players - want to be great. I know I’m better than this.”

The Longhorns coach, Steve Sarkisian, also admitted Manning’s struggles, while restating his faith in the quarterback’s ability. He said:

“I felt like he pressed some. He knew he missed some throws. I feel like we’ve done enough with him to have a pretty good understanding of who he is as a player and what he’s capable of. I know there’s a lot of football in him that’s high-level football.”

Sarkisian will be depending on Arch Manning to step up in the Longhorns’ next game against Sam Houston.