5-Star QB Arch Manning to Visit Georgia, Texas as 1st Spring Recruiting Trips
Highly coveted quarterback recruit Arch Manning will make an unofficial visit to Georgia this weekend, according to McClain Baxley of the Athens Banner-Herald.
Baxley reported Texas will be the next stop on Manning's spring tour. The Louisiana native is the No. 1 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class in 247Sports' composite rankings.
247Sports' Steve Wiltfong reported on Feb. 4 that four schools had emerged as the strongest contenders to sign Manning: Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Texas. Wiltfong followed up on Feb. 16 to report that LSU and Florida could be in the mix, with Clemson eliminated entirely.
Nelson Stewart, who coaches Manning at Isidore Newman, said the 18-year-old wants to cover all of his bases to make sure his commitment is firm when he chooses a school.
"I assure you, once he does (commit somewhere), he's going to do it," Stewart said to Baxley. "There aren't going to be hat pulls or flips or things like that."
Georgia would be an obvious fit for Manning based on the success the Bulldogs have had under head coach Kirby Smart.
This would be a bit of a departure from how Smart approached the quarterback position, though. While he brought Justin Fields and JT Daniels to Athens, both eventually left because they didn't have a clear path to the starting role. Smart opted for Jake Fromm over Fields and Stetson Bennett over Daniels.
With Manning, on the other hand, it seems all but certain he'll be the starter for whatever school he selects from Day 1.
That's why his arrival at Texas would make for such an interesting dynamic.
The Longhorns got Quinn Ewers from the transfer portal this offseason, a nice feather in Steve Sarkisian's cap to partially make up for a 5-7 record in 2021. Ewers isn't eligible for the NFL draft until 2024, so his and Manning's Longhorns tenures would overlap for at least one year.
Would Manning be content to serve as the backup for the 2023 season? Would Ewers make a hasty retreat before the 2023 campaign if he sensed his status as the starter slipping?
If you're Sarkisian, you'd rather cross that bridge when it comes rather than lose out on Manning altogether.
