A recent article from The Athletic labeled Texas redshirt sophomore quarterback Arch Manning as a flop. The story has received backlash from even Texas' biggest rivals, making it pretty clear that calling Manning a flop is extremely premature.

The article written by Will Leitch titled “Is Arch Manning college football’s first flop? Why his slow start feels unprecedented” is unnecessary and harsh in so many ways. Saturday's matchup against Florida was Manning's seventh collegiate start, and his second on the road.

Has he underwhelmed? Absolutely. Should we give him time before we label his college career a failure? Also yes. In fact, there are many examples of college QBs becoming late bloomers. The biggest example is Bengals QB and former Heisman trophy winner Joe Burrow.

Burrow's first three seasons in college were not ideal. He transferred to LSU after being a backup at Ohio State for two seasons and had a subpar junior season with the Tigers. In his senior season, Burrow was the leader of one of the greatest offenses in college football history, winning the Heisman and getting drafted No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft.

Manning may not reach the heights Burrow did, but he deserves the chance to prove himself like the now-Bengals QB did. Especially considering that Manning has shown more in his first two seasons than Burrow did.

It's also asinine to mark Manning as "college football’s first flop." 

Think of all the hyped prospects and five-stars that have come through college football over the years; even if Manning was a flop, there's no chance he'd be the first. Just going back to his recruiting class, Manning was ranked fifth in ESPN's rankings, behind UTEP redshirt sophomore QB Malachi Nelson and Auburn junior QB Jackson Arnold.

Are they not flops? 

There are expectations that come with the Manning name. I get it, but it's unfair to hold that against him, especially when he can't control that. Just a few months ago, at SEC Media Days, Manning tried to downplay the hype surrounding him.

“I’m not really sure how they get these opinions because I’ve only played, what, two games," Manning said. "That’s nice of them to say, but that doesn’t mean anything. Talk is cheap, I gotta go prove it.”

So far, he hasn't proved it, and that's completely fair to point out, but Arch Manning didn't ask for this. He's a 21-year-old who's still growing as human, while also trying to lead one of the biggest brands in college athletics.

Maybe we should give the kid a break.