Arch Manning was again one of the most hotly debated passers among our panel of coaches, general managers, scouts and front office staffers in our second annual attempt to rank every FBS starting quarterback in The Athletic’s College QB Tiers.Manning ranks as a Tier 1 quarterback for the second straight year and moved up three spots from last July to No. 7 this preseason. But he’s not quite as high on this list as he is in some 2027 NFL Draft projections — including that of The Athletic’s draft expert Dane Brugler, who had Manning No. 1 in his way-too-early 2027 mock draft. Keep in mind that College Quarterback Tiers is not a draft projection, but a ranking as a current college quarterback.Why did Manning rank highly again, yet fall short of the top five? Here’s what the coaches, general managers and staffers we spoke to think (all were granted anonymity so that they could speak candidly about an opposing player).There’s still a lot of love for his physical talentWhat the 6-foot-4, 226-pound Manning possesses — good size, arm strength and running ability — is often one of the first things people cite when evaluating him.“He’s big, fast, he’s the whole package as a player,” a Group of 6 general manager said. “I just don’t know how you go wrong with a guy like that.”An SEC general manager said Manning “has all the tools,” and an SEC front office staffer remarked how enjoyable it is to watch Manning throw pregame.“When you watch him in warmups, he’s so good,” the front office staffer said. “It was so fun to watch him throw. I was just staring. For me, there’s no question about his arm or his talent. … He’s got all the tools and he’ll make some plays where you’re like, ‘Wow.’”There are still skepticsThough several coaches and staffers we spoke with considered Manning a top-10 quarterback nationally, two Power 4 head coaches were not as high.One called Manning “just OK” and “a bit overhyped.” Another said Manning is good, but not elite.“I’m not a huge Arch fan,” the second Power 4 head coach said. “I think he’s just a good player. All (the mechanics) are clean. I don’t know, there’s something about guys who win. In high school, he didn’t win championships. College, it’s only been one year but he still hasn’t. He doesn’t win.“There’s something there where I’m like, ‘Man, you have better players and you’re not winning.’ Maybe I’m way wrong, but there’s always something there.”The SEC front office staffer, who called Manning “good,” acknowledged that there may be too much buildup for Manning again this year and that he wants to see improvement in the smaller things that nagged at Manning last season.“Everything about what we’re doing (with the Manning preseason hype) is exactly what we did last year. It’s the same picture. What has he gotten better at?” the staffer said. “His head and his base are all over the place when he goes to throw, and that’s why he misses the intermediate stuff. My issue with him is he didn’t fix that. And if he doesn’t fix that, he’s not gonna be good.“He’s topped out at the things he can get better at and the things he can get better at are not the thing people tend to progress year to year with. My issue with Arch Manning being one of the top quarterbacks is I just don’t see him taking that step of being the best quarterback in the conference.”Manning rebounding from his rough start won supportersOne thing nearly everyone we spoke with pointed out was how Manning played down the stretch in 2025.Manning endured some growing pains, struggling in the first half of the season as he adapted to being a full-time starter for the first time and adjusted to an offensive line that, in the first half of the season, allowed the sixth-highest pressure rate among Power 4 teams, per PFF. (Texas ended the season having allowed the 18th-highest pressure rate in the Power 4.) And Manning himself admitted last year that he had a lot of progress to make.He improved in most passing categories in the second half of the season, including completion percentage, off-target percentage, yards per attempt, yards per play, touchdown-to-interception ratio and interception rate.