For anyone who has been following Arch Manning and his decision on where to play college football, his decision to play for the University of Texas probably feels a bit anticlimactic.
Still, it’s notable that the No. 1 rated prospect in the Class of 2023 has made his selection, announcing that he will play quarterback for the Texas Longhorns on Twitter.
Committed to the University of Texas. #HookEm pic.twitter.com/jHYbjBaF5K
— Arch Manning (@ArchManning) June 23, 2022
Texas has long been considered the favorite to land Peyton and Eli’s nephew, who is entering his senior season of high school. The highly coveted recruit chose Texas over Alabama and Georgia, both of them have also been in the running for him for the last few months. It was assumed that Nick Saban and the Tide might be out of the running when they accepted a commitment from Eli Holstein in May and that likely did play a factor.
When Arch’s high school teammate Will Randle, a three-star tight end, officially committed to Texas earlier in the week, many took it as a sign that Manning would follow him. The two have played together throughout their childhoods and, it appears, that bond will continue in college.
Manning has said that NIL deals were not a consideration about where he would commit, though he will almost certainly take part in them once he arrives at school.
The 6’4″, 215-pound quarterback has thrown for over 5,000 passing yards and over 70 touchdowns in his three-year career with Isidore Newman High School. He’ll bring a ton of hype with him to Steve Sarkisian’s program and anything less than a national title will probably be seen as a disappointment. But then again, that’s always the case for the Longhorns anyway.
In the meantime, it will be pretty interesting to see what happens when Manning arrives given that Quinn Ewers will likely hold down the starting job this upcoming season.
