Week 6 Scouting Notebook: Arch Manning's Red River struggles, Patrick Overmyer's four-touchdown day and more

By Jack Brentnall

The Red River Rivalry is rarely short of drama and a walk-off finish in Dallas gave the weekend its biggest headline. There was plenty worth watching elsewhere too, with a record-tying afternoon in the Big 12 and a noteworthy return from one of the top prospects in the 2027 class. 

Here is what stood out on tape.

Another inconsistent afternoon from Arch Manning in Red River defeat

Texas’ walk-off loss to Oklahoma was one of the biggest stories of the weekend and plenty of the attention fell on Arch Manning. He finished 19 of 31 for 260 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, and inconsistent is the word that best sums up the performance.

There was some good in here. Manning hit a pair of beautiful deep balls to Cam Coleman that showed him at his best, and he ripped a throw up the seam to Ryan Wingo for a touchdown early on. Those are the throws that get you genuinely excited about what he can be in the pros.

The interceptions will be the headline though, and both left a bad taste. The first was another case of Manning lacking ideal accuracy, overthrowing his receiver and handing Oklahoma a pick six. The second was the right read, but he was late getting his eyes back to Coleman, hurried the throw as a result and allowed Courtland Guillory to jump the route.

It is that lack of consistency, and the tendency to make frustrating mistakes, that keeps a cloud over Manning’s profile. Coming into the season I was among those who had him as the favourite to go No. 1 overall in the 2027 NFL Draft, and after Week 2 I wrote about how impressed I had been with his turnaround against Ohio State. I expected that to be the game where he announced himself as the clear QB1 in this class and kicked on towards a Heisman campaign, but that hasn’t happened.

Watching Texas you feel as if you are watching an offense that wants to build its foundations on the run game rather than on its quarterback. That is a perfectly reasonable way to win football games, but it is harder to square when we are talking about the quarterback as a potential top pick in the upcoming draft.

There are moments in every game to keep you believing, and plenty of SEC football still to come for Manning to prove his doubters wrong. I’m certainly not yet in a position where I am willing to write him off as a legitimate 2027 prospect. That said, we are yet to see him look like a No. 1 overall pick across four full quarters, and losing a Red River Rivalry that Texas really should have won is a tough pill to swallow.

Dylan Stewart responds in the right way against Florida

The last time we saw Dylan Stewart it was a game to forget. He was out of sorts against Alabama and things got out of hand from there, with a punch thrown at an Alabama player and a refusal to leave the field during an argument with his coaches. There were questions afterwards about whether we had seen the last of him as a Gamecock.

He returned against Florida this weekend and looked excellent. Stewart was playing a part-time role as he continues to recover from the back injury he suffered last year, but he made those reps count. He finished with a sack and two forced fumbles, while also generating a pressure that led to an interception.

The pass rushing talent was what really stood out. He may have recorded just two pressures, but his 23.5% win rate tells a deeper story, and his arsenal of moves and quick twitch were routinely too much for Florida to handle.

Whether he gets back to a larger volume of snaps over the coming weeks remains to be seen, but this was about as good as you could have hoped for after what happened in Tuscaloosa a fortnight ago. With Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas A&M on the horizon, Stewart still has the chance to prove he can be the top-tier dominant edge rusher many expected coming into the season. He is one to watch closely once the Gamecocks return from their bye in Week 8.

Nick Marsh drags Indiana past Nebraska

There were stretches of Indiana’s win over Nebraska where it felt like Nick Marsh was carrying his team there by himself. He finished with six catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns, and what made it such an enjoyable watch was how well rounded the performance was.

Marsh won at all three phases of the route. There is real intelligence and nuance to his route running, and he spent the afternoon manipulating defenders to create separation, though he was equally happy to win through physicality when that was the better option. He caught the ball well too, showing good concentration to come down with it in traffic.

This was also a good display of the damage he can do after the catch, a rare trait for a bigger receiver.

For me he is in the conversation to be the next receiver off the board after Jeremiah Smith. He might not match the high-end athleticism of Cam Coleman or his own teammate Charlie Becker, but the combination of reliable hands, detailed route running and creativity after the catch makes him a really easy player to project to the pro level.

Jamal Roberts joins rare company with a second straight 200-yard game

With Ahmad Hardy still out, Jamal Roberts has made the most of the opportunity in front of him, and against Texas A&M he turned in a second consecutive 200 yard rushing performance. That made him the first running back in the SEC to record back-to-back games of 200+ rushing yards and multiple touchdowns since Derrick Henry and Leonard Fournette both managed it in 2015.

Through six games he is up to 818 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 146 carries, and he has shown himself capable of carrying a heavy workload while staying consistently productive.

Power and toughness were again what stood out on tape. Roberts has impressive contact balance and does well to churn through contact and fight out for extra yardage. He also broke a 54 yard touchdown run in this one, following a pair of long runs against Florida last week, despite not having much in the way of top end speed.

The question when projecting Roberts to the next level will centre on his ceiling. The dependability is not in doubt and a committee role feels like a comfortable floor, but an adequate athletic profile and limited value on passing downs are what will keep him behind some of the other backs in the 2027 class unless the production keeps forcing the issue. At the rate he is going, it might.

Four touchdowns for Patrick Overmyer against Kansas State

Houston tight end Patrick Overmyer had an afternoon to remember against Kansas State, catching eight passes for 83 yards and four touchdowns to tie the FBS record for most receiving touchdowns in a game by a tight end. He has been a real red zone threat throughout his career, with 14 of his 91 career receptions resulting in scores.

Overmyer is a smooth and fluid mover with loose hips for a player of his size. His hands looked very good here and he was able to work around his frame to make some impressive grabs. There is some decent wiggle after the catch too, which he showed off on one big gain. 

Houston also move him around, aligning him all over the formation. He took a significant number of snaps in the backfield as a H-back, but also got work from the slot and out wide.

There is clear room to grow as an inline blocker, but he had some nice reps blocking in space and working as an insert blocker, and he looked solid in pass protection. His ability to continue to grow as a blocker will decide how big of a role he can hold at the next level. The former UTSA man has another year of eligibility so may choose to return to school for 2027, but right now he is certainly a tight end to know for the upcoming draft, especially if he can stack more performances like this down the stretch.

JACK BRENTNALL

HEAD OF NFL DRAFT CONTENT

Previously the founder of The Jet Sweep, Jack joined The Touchdown as head of Draft Content in 2024. A Scouting Academy alumnus, Jack has been Covering the NFL Draft since 2020. Follow him on Twitter @Jack_Brentnall.

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