What does Arch Manning mean for Texas football QB Maalik Murphy?

The fallout of the commitment of the elite five-star Isidore Newman quarterback Arch Manning to head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program on June 23 continues to take place. Reactions ranging from what this means for Texas once Arch arrives on campus to what this means for another big official visit weekend in Austin are just a few of the topics of discussion raging on around this program.

But the impact that the commitment of Arch will have on this quarterback room for the next few years is another conversation that is being had commonly on the Forty Acres on this day. Most Longhorns fans immediately turned to the impact that this will have on the fellow former No. 1 rated recruit in the nation and freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers for 2023.

I do believe that there is one particular Longhorns quarterback that the commitment of Arch will have a much bigger impact on than Ewers, though. And that Texas quarterback to watch moving forward that this Arch commitment will have an impact on is the former four-star Junipero Serra recruit and true freshman Maalik Murphy.

Murphy was the lone quarterback signee among high school recruits in the Longhorns 2022 class. Technically Ewers was supposed to be in the same high school graduating class as Murphy. But Ewers eventually reclassified and enrolled with the Ohio State Buckeyes in their 2021 class to participate in the festivities last season.

The impact of Arch Manning on new Texas football QB Maalik Murphy

There is a lot of hype about what Murphy can do for the Longhorns a little way down the road. But that hype has likely been forgotten by many people after Texas landed this commitment from Arch.

And there’s a good reason for that.

Sark and quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee made Arch their priority to build this 2023 recruiting class, and largely the next piece of the foundation of this program, around heading into the future. That also means that if landing a commitment from Arch made anyone else in this quarterback room unsettled, that’s just the way it is.

With Arch being such an important priority for Sark and the Longhorns staff for the future of this program, any other prospective quarterbacks that will be in this room in 2023 and beyond will really have to fight for any live-game reps. Murphy is included in that bucket.

Now, I do want to mention that if there is any talented quarterback that is a fighter in this situation, Murphy looks to fit that bill. Murphy wasn’t phased when Sark and the Longhorns landed a commitment earlier this offseason out of the NCAA Transfer Portal from Ewers.

And it doesn’t appear that Texas going all-in on the recruitment of Manning has bothered him much either. Murphy knew well before Texas landed this commitment from Arch that Sark and this staff were betting the house on that recruitment.

Hence, Murphy will be ready for the competition that lies ahead in the next few years.

The problem I do see coming to the surface for Murphy a few years down the road has to do with the pressure associated with starting a five-star quarterback such as Manning right away. Once Ewers’ time is done with the Longhorns, likely following the 2023 season, there will be immense pressure for Sark to start Manning.

It’s hard to see a world where Texas really gives a fair shot to Murphy in any prospective quarterback battle with Manning down the road.

This is similar to the quarterback battle that junior Hudson Card is facing right now with Ewers. It seems like there aren’t many scenarios where Card wins the quarterback battle over Ewers this fall. Texas doesn’t go out and get Ewers out of the transfer portal following a 5-7 season without planning on him becoming the answer right away the next campaign.

There is a similar argument to be made for Manning to start as soon as he can once he arrives in Austin. At least that will be the case once Ewers is done as the starting quarterback for the Longhorns.

Moreover, it is way too early to make any definitive statement on the long-term impact that the commitment from Arch will have on Murphy. There is a lot of time before any prospective Manning-Murphy quarterback battle on the Forty Acres.

The fact of the matter now is that Sark and the Longhorns staff are starting to stack up quarterback talent in this room in a way that can make this program elite again. Texas building up elite talent at important position groups such as quarterback will lead to talented players eventually transferring out.

Whether that be someone like Murphy or Card is yet to be known. But we already saw something like this take place when Casey Thompson transferred to Nebraska after Texas pulled in a commitment from Ewers out of the portal.

There are really two ways that I can see this Murphy scenario playing out in a quarterback room that also has Arch. The first involves Ewers passing the quarterback torch to Manning right away in 2024 when Quinn declares early for the NFL Draft. That could see Murphy take his talents elsewhere by finding an immediate opportunity to start with another Power Five school.

A second scenario exists here that I can see where Murphy does stick around and try to compete for the starting job into 2024 and 2025. He would have eligibility lasting at least through 2026, and he might try to push for this starting job through the very end.

We’ve seen a scenario play out where Card is still trying to duke it out with Ewers to win this starting quarterback job in 2022 when a lot of Texas fans thought he would be in the transfer portal by now.

Maybe we could see something similar play out with Murphy where he fights for years to come and wins the starting job. And who knows, things like injuries do happen that could give Murphy an opportunity to shine at an unsuspecting time.

There’s no doubt that Texas will probably have the most talented quarterback room in the country in 2023. Between the likes of Ewers, Manning, Murphy, and maybe Card, Texas is going to have a plethora of NFL-caliber arms in the mix in this quarterback room as soon as next offseason.