The University of Texas has had some excellent quarterbacks over the years; some could even be called "legendary" in the college football world. If guys like Colt McCoy or Sam Ehlinger pop into the minds of Longhorn fans when asked to name the top 5 high school QB recruits in Texas history, this list might be seen as surprising.
Though those two players were definitely successful in Austin, it speaks to their overall development in college rather than how they were viewed coming out of the high school level.
Here are Texas' top 5 all-time QB recruits according the 247sports composite ratings:
1. Vince Young (2002) 5-star, 1.0000
Like another player on this list, Young was the No.1 overall recruit in the 2002 recruiting class. Once he got to Austin, he hit the ground running and became one of the most notable Longhorn QBs of all time. He led the team to a National Championship win in 2005, and won the Davey O'Brien Award, Manning Award, Maxwell Award, and was the Big 12 OPOY.
Career stats: 37 games - 61.8% comp., 6,040 pass. yards, 44 TDs, 28 INTs, 3,128 rush. yards, 37 TDs
2. Arch Manning (2023) 5-star, 1.0000
Manning was also the No.1 high school recruit in the country and without a doubt the "biggest name" QB recruit as of late. He finally gets to be the full-time starter in 2025, and he has the supporting weapons to show everyone why he was so highly sought-after. He definitely has the talent to be one of the best signal-callers in UT history, and only time will tell whether or not he lives up to his recruiting hype.
Career stats: 12 games - 66.3% comp., 969 pass. yards, 9 TDs, 2 INTs, 115 rush. yards, 4 TDs
3. Garrett Gilbert (2009) 5-star, 0.9918
Gilbert was ranked as the No.2 pro-style QB in the 2009 class and was with the Longhorns from 2009 until 2011. He then transferred to SMU for his redshirt junior and senior seasons. Unfortunately, he was one of those guys who let the recruiting hype get the best of him and never really broke out for the Longhorns.
Career stats: 24 games - 56.7% comp., 3,301 pass. yards, 13 TDs, 23 INTs, 400 rush. yards, 6 TDs
4. Chance Mock (2000) 5-star, 0.9918
Mock was ranked as the No.3 pro-style QB in the 2000 recruiting class, but much like Gilbert, never really produced for the Longhorns. Though he was pretty good during his junior season, nothing came of it in terms of him being a productive collegiate quarterback. He only started one season for Texas and then completely fell off as a senior in 2004, being relegated to the 2nd-team unit once again.
Career stats: 29 games - 54% comp., 1,613 pass. yards, 17 TDs, 2 INTs, -39 rush. yards, 1 TD
5. Dia Bell (2026) 5-star, 0.9912
Bell is currently ranked as the No.3 overall QB recruit in the 2026 class, and he recently became the Elite 11 MVP winner, becoming the first ever Texas recruit to do so. He was also the 2024 Gatorade Player of the Year in Florida after leading his team to a 9-2 record before suffering a season-ending injury in the state semi-finals. The Longhorn coaching staff is exciting to get Bell on Campus in 2026 and he has the type of refined passing skills to be effective early on in his Texas career.
Career stats: N/A