UT Legend Jamaal Charles Dubs Arch Manning 'The Future Of The Texas Longhorns'

Even though Arch Manning 's only thrown 52 passes in his collegiate career, Jamaal Charles has already seen enough -- telling TMZ Sports he knows for a fact the young signal-caller is "the future of the Texas Longhorns."

Peyton and Eli 's nephew has been filling in for Quinn Ewers the last two weeks while the QB1 has been out with injury ... and it's safe to say he's impressed the hell out of Charles, who praised him during an interview with us this week.

ARCH MANNING ON THE FIELD

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The UT legend said the 19-year-old has flashed so much against UTSA and ULM this month -- he's already reminding him of his famous uncles.

"You can tell that it runs in the family," the ex-Longhorns tailback said.

But, Charles says it's still Ewers' team for now ... and there's simply no quarterback controversy in Austin.

That being said, Charles told us he's excited to see Manning play against Mississippi State later Saturday if Ewers can't go -- explaining he really wants to see how the young signal-caller does against top-flight SEC competition.

But, seems Charles thinks it'll turn out smoothly ... as he said he's "seen enough" from the QB to know he has an NFL future.

Charles also spoke with us about another one of his former teams -- the Kansas City Chiefs -- and he said everyone panicking about Travis Kelce 's slow start needs to calm down.

He said the tight end is no stranger to off-the-field ventures -- pointing out the guy had his own reality show years ago -- and he's confident the 34-year-old will get back on track shortly.