Texas Longhorns football legend has a strong take on Arch Manning's unique situation

Texas Longhorns football legend Vince Young offered a strong take this past week on redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning's situation in 2024.

Manning's "situation" in 2024 is that he'll be backing up starting quarterback Quinn Ewers.

A redshirt freshman operating as a backup isn't something that's typically viewed as an overly unique situation. But most redshirt freshmen backup quarterbacks aren't former five-star recruits that come from football royalty.

Everyone is seemingly anxious to see Manning hit the field due to his football pedigree.

Young, however, thinks it's "great" that Manning is continuing to sit behind Ewers.

"What [Arch] Manning is doing right now is great for him," said Young during a recent appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd . "You know, the NFL is not going [anywhere]. For [Arch] to just sit back, get ahead in your books, learn the plays, learn the game, learn how to travel, how to be a leader, learn these things -- which he has, like, the best people in the world to teach him that from Peyton to Eli and his father, and as well as myself talking to him every day when I'm around the campus. So I feel like what he's doing right now is going to have him really prepared to play when it's his time."

Young is spot on. The urgency that coaches feel to start young phenom quarterbacks isn't a good thing for the sport. Starting young players makes sense in some situations, but it's usually not the best idea. Development is important. And rushing players can stunt that development (we see it from college to the NFL).

Manning will undoubtedly be a better player because he waited his turn behind Ewers (and because Manning will be entering his third season in Steve Sarkisian's offense in 2025 when he takes over as the starter).

Maybe Manning's "situation" can have a positive impact on other situations across college football. Perhaps development will become a priority again in college football (as it should be).

Related: There's a new theory about Texas QB Arch Manning taking over the internet, but it can be easily debunked