Steve Sarkisian’s ‘Joe Smith’ argument for Arch Manning is absolute nonsense for an average QB

The narrative around Arch Manning at Texas would probably be a tad easier to deal with if head coach Steve Sarkisian would stop adding unnecessary fuel to the fire.

We all understand whether the Longhorns quarterback receives a lot more attention than others across the country based off his last name alone, that's a given.

But, at some point folks have got to start putting realistic expectations on the guy who is leading the Texas offense.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL MEGA ROSTERS AREN'T DELIVERING A RETURN ON INVESTMENT AS LSU, TEXAS A&M AND OREGON ARE PROVING Right now, Arch Manning is a good college quarterback, and at times he plays like an average passer who has cost his team at least one game this season.

Throw in the fact that he's the face of Texas football right now, and obviously there could be moments that the latest Manning quarterback is feeling the pressure.

My goodness though, his head coach is not doing him any favors from a public perception standpoint.

On Monday, Steve Sarkisian was asked by a reporter that if you took the name 'Manning' off the back of his jersey, would there not be all of the 'incredible' expectations on the quarterback.

After starting his answer with the cliché talk of this being a team game, which it is, and the scheme of running the Texas offense, Sarkisian delivered this gem of an answer.

ARCH MANNING RANKED FIFTH AMONG 2027 NFL DRAFT QUARTERBACKS AS EXEC QUESTIONS 'BLIND FAITH' BASED OFF NAME "I think if you took the name off the back of his jersey and you said 'here's Joe Smith playing quarterback at the University of Texas and here's a guy that's beaten four top-10 ranked teams in his last thirteen starts' we'd be praising the guy," Sarkisian noted .

"The expectations are high for him, but he understands that.

The expectations are high for all of us.

So, we gotta put our nose back to the grind and get back to work." UNRANKED OKLAHOMA KNOCKS OFF NO.

1 TEXAS IN WALK-OFF FASHION AFTER ARCH MANNING'S ROUGH 4TH QUARTER For the love of all that's good, save us with this nonsense.

If Manning was actually named 'Joe Smith', Steve Sarkisian would have already given the backup quarterbacks at least a shot at overtaking Arch Manning as the starter.