Steelers Now
With the Pittsburgh Steelers in the market for a quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft, Steelers Now will be taking stock of the draft class every week of the 2025 college football season.
It was only against Northern Arizona, so with respect to the Lumberjacks, keep the performance in context. Leavitt is also no rookie. He started all last season for Arizona State, taking the Sun Devils to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, where they lost to Texas in double overtime. We have a relatively large sample of what Leavitt brings to the table already.
But man, was he impressive in the season opener. Leavitt completed 21 of 31 for 257 yards and two touchdowns through the air and then ran for another 73 yards on seven carries and two more scores.
CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN 💨
SAM LEAVITT TURNED ON THE AFTER-BURNERS FOR THIS 52-YARD TD RUN 😯 pic.twitter.com/JDvT1nRI6g
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) August 31, 2025
Again, it’s only Northern Arizona, but Leavitt did exactly what you’re supposed to do against lower-level opposition: dominate.
Scouted by Steelers: Week 1 vs. NAU
MDDB Big Board: Week 1, No. 43, QB 7
Season stats: 25 of 39 (64.1%), 257 yards (6.6 y/a), 2 TD, 1 INT, 131.3 rating
The hype was probably never sustainable. Manning made his first start as Texas’ full-time starting quarterback (he started two games as a backup last year) on the road, against the reigning national champions.
It was not the kind of performance that week allow No. 1 overall pick talk to persist much longer. Manning was an inefficient 17 of 30 for just 170 yards, and while he did deal with some drops, his passes were not often as precise as you’d expect with his heritage. Manning frequently dropped into a sidearm delivery that wasn’t especially effective and won’t impress scouts.
He made a nice throw to give Texas some life in the fourth quarter, connecting on a 32-yard touchdown to Parker Livingstone.
ARCH MANNING WITH A DIME FOR THE TD 🎯
TEXAS SHOWING LIFE 👀
(via @CFBONFOX)
pic.twitter.com/8kQ8t3foKX— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 30, 2025
A stop by the Longhorns defense got Manning the ball back with just over two minutes, trailing by a touchdown. He completed two of five passes and the ball went over on downs.
You could live with some inefficiency in the season opener against a tough defense on the road if it came with some big moments sprinkled in, too, but just one is not going to cut it.
That being said, don’t write Manning off after facing the toughest test of Week 1.
Scouted by Steelers: Week 1 at Ohio State
MDDB Big Board: Week 1, No. 1, QB 1
Season stats: 17 of 30 (56.7%), 170 yards (5.7 y/a), 1 TD, 1 INT, 108.6 rating
