AUSTIN – If anyone needs a thoughtful, insightful answer regarding the relationship between Ewers and Manning, at least by college football standards, see Michael Taaffe.

The big concern this week at the University of Texas is Quinn Ewers, who is nursing an oblique strain suffered in the weekend’s game against UTSA. This could lead to Arch Manning making his first career start on Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe.

Taaffe, a redshirt junior safety, famously befriended Manning early in his recruiting process and eventually hosted him on his official visit. A Longhorn veteran, he also had a front-row seat for Ewers’ entire tenure in Austin, starting with his transfer from Ohio State ahead of the 2022 season.

Leave it to Taaffe to weigh in on the only Texas-related topic everyone wants to talk about this week.

“Every one of them is one of my best friends,” Taaffe said on Monday. “Every one of them could be at my wedding one day. These guys are incredible people. They take care of the dressing room first, they take care of us first before anything else.”

“Quinn and Arch are great individuals, not just players, not just teammates. They’re so much fun to be around. The leaders of this team, Jahdae Barron, Jake Majors, those guys are part of the leadership mix as well and make this team really fun to play on.”

However this short-term quarterback situation plays out, including the fact that the job belongs to Ewers when he’s ready, it will work out because there’s a certain point that Ewers, Manning and head coach Steve Sarkisian have tried to hammer home over and over again over the last year.

This is an extremely rare situation: Manning, the best recruit in his class and even more so the highest-rated quarterback in his class, has not even had an open competition to unseat the incumbent.

This was handled with maturity and a watchful eye toward the future, even though the timetable for Manning to take over the offense was pushed back a year after Ewers decided to return in the fall.

For his part, Ewers has embraced Manning rather than stoking animosity. They’re friends, they’re roommates on the road, which is beneficial for Manning in the long run, and both players have spoken in the past about weekly dinners in the quarterback room.

No, there are no problems here, and the team’s unofficial spokesperson agrees.

“Honestly, I’m so happy for Arch and especially happy that this moment came about for him,” Taaffe said, referring to Manning’s 278-yard, five-touchdown run against UTSA. “I know Quinn was obviously so happy for him. Obviously you don’t want anyone to go in there with an injury, ever. I was praying for Quinn immediately when I saw him go down, but at the end of the day, I’m just happy for both of them. They both deserve the best because they work so hard day in and day out. First in the building, last out, and I mean that because I’m trying to beat them here.

“That’s just his type of guy. You always have to take it all in if you want to be a leader. I think Arch is a leader because (and Sam Ehlinger, another Austin Westlake graduate, told me this a long time ago) leaders have to be able to listen, and he’s been great at listening, tracking and watching Quinn, and it’s shown in his preparation. He reads the things that Quinn does, and I’m really glad I have those two guys on my sideline when we play on Saturdays.”