Texas still sits among frontrunners with 5-Star QB Arch Manning

One of the major question marks that emerged for the Texas football program, especially on the recruiting trail, after head coach Steve Sarkisian landed a commitment of the former Ohio State Buckeyes freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers out of the NCAA Transfer Portal concerns the 2023 class. The elite five-star Isidore Newman (LA) quarterback Arch Manning is clearly Sark’s top target in the 2023 recruiting class.

But it is easy to see why some of the Longhorns faithful would have some doubt about this program’s status in the recruitment of Manning after nabbing a commitment out of the transfer portal from Ewers. Given the insane talent that Manning brings to the table, you would figure that he wants to compete to be a starting quarterback right away.

With Ewers coming to the Forty Acres with the likelihood of being the starting quarterback through the 2022 and 2023 seasons, at a minimum, that would obviously present a roadblock to Manning getting to start right away with this program. Yet, there is a school of thought that the Manning camp doesn’t mind if Arch has to take a redshirt year and learn for his first season in college.

This sentiment is supported by some reports from the recruiting trail for the Longhorns of late. A recent report from Inside Texas (paid content), mentions that the Longhorns are still in a favorable position with Manning.

Texas football still favorably positioned with 5-Star QB Arch Manning

And if Texas can find more success in the win column and provide a better supporting cast for someone like Arch, adding Ewers could actually help the Longhorns’ chances to eventually win over his commitment. The major question mark right now for Texas to land Manning does concern that 5-7 record that the Longhorns posted in the season that was.

If Texas can show signs in the spring of this program really righting the ship under Sark and his staff, that should only help in the pursuit to land a commitment from Manning.

It is also worth noting that this Inside Texas report mentions that the Longhorns should essentially not want to trade their positioning among the top schools for Manning with anyone else. I might add that I would say that the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs could have a clearer path forward with Manning than the Longhorns.

But it is true that Texas definitely still looks to sit in a good position with Manning. It might not be as favorable as it would earlier in the fall, but Texas definitely still has Manning in their crosshairs as a potential foundational piece in the 2023 class.

Texas currently holds one commitment in their 2023 class at the moment with four-star cornerback Jamel Johnson. With the Early Signing Period wrapping up in the last week, there will start to be more of an emphasis in the 2023 class.