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Comparing Quarterback Rooms in the Race for Arch Manning

In this week’s recruiting mailbag, we assess the potential QB competition the most famous recruit in the country would face among contending programs.

John Garcia Jr.

Sports Illustrated's John Garcia Jr. selects one question posed to him through social media (@JohnGarcia_Jr and @SIAllAmerican) each week to delve into the college football recruiting topics fans want to know most about.

Arch Manning is in the middle of his official visit swing for the month of June. The phenom quarterback recruit visited Georgia last weekend and will see Alabama this weekend and Texas the following weekend. 

The first official visits of record for the New Orleans Isidore Newman star has furthered the seemingly unlimited opinion surrounding the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning. At many different points, including over the weekend, Sports Illustrated has been asked about the differing quarterback situations relative to the trio of favorites. With the rising senior busy vetting each option one last time before a potential verbal commitment, it’s the right time to dig into the top contenders from every angle.

Evaluating the options in visit order, the defending national champion Georgia has the largest pool of talent on the current roster. Walk-on turned title game MVP Stetson Bennett is entering his final year at the helm in Athens, but the Bulldogs boast considerable talent behind him thereafter. Carson Beck has emerged as the primary backup to Bennett in the wake of JT Daniels’s transfer to West Virginia, and many around the program feel like Beck was ahead of Daniels’s pace toward the end of the championship run. Brock Vandagriff, a class of 2021 SI99 recruit from nearby Prince Avenue Christian, now has multiple spring seasons under his belt as a potential next man up. In December, Kirby Smart’s program signed Georgia’s all-time high school football touchdown and yardage leader in Gunner Stockton. Each UGA passer would technically have three years of eligibility remaining by the time Manning would arrive on campus next year.

Buzz following the official visit to Athens didn’t feature much about the potential veterans Manning would try to overtake should he pick the SEC East power, but more so on the depth of the offense Smart and Todd Monken want to continue to develop under their watch. Manning recently called Athens the best college town he has taken in as a recruit, and of course the on-field product is as strong as ever, so the Bulldog angle isn’t as hard to imagine. But the QB room, should the road to being the starter early in his college career prove critical, is relatively loaded with diverse talent. Beck is a big-pocket passer with good athleticism, Vandagriff has a bit more rushing ability and Stockton projects like a true dual-threat. 

At Alabama, there is a similar feel at the top given the expectation Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young bolts for the NFL after his junior season this fall. Listed as a potential No. 1 overall draft pick early on, it would be a moderate shock if he was on the Crimson Tide roster in 2023. As the A-Day spring game showed in April, there is athleticism and arm talent in each of the reserve passers behind Young. Jalen Milroe could be one of the most athletic quarterbacks in the country and freshman Ty Simpson flashed the ability to use his legs in his public debut as well. Simpson was ranked as the No. 2 quarterback in the 2022 SI99 behind Clemson’s Cade Klubnik. 

The Alabama angle for Manning is unique relative to the others in one key element regarding the QB room in that it has a quarterback committed in the class of 2023 already. Eli Holstein, once a Jimbo Fisher recruit at Texas A&M, made the pledge to Nick Saban’s staff public in May. There was some question around whether Manning would even take the official visit to Tuscaloosa following the Holstein news, but the plan to see the top three contenders remained unchanged and he will headline the upcoming visit weekend for UA. Should Holstein sign with the program in December, he and the theoretical addition of Manning would pair the freshmen together. Milroe will have three years of eligibility, and Simpson will have at least the same amount by Manning’s freshman season. 

Texas doesn’t have near the recent on-field success of the other contenders for Manning, but it has the least proven commodities among potential passers to overtake by the time Manning would make it to town. Steve Sarkisian’s program is in the middle of the battle between redshirt freshman Quinn Ewers and sophomore Hudson Card, with the competition expected to be won by former top recruit Ewers. Even if Card wins, though, it would mean a returning starter at UT would have at least one additional year at the helm as the expected leader. Freshman Maalik Murphy, another SI99 recruit, is expected to continue to compete behind the more experienced pair beyond 2022 as well. 

Ewers has a massive arm with plus size and functional athleticism, while Card got the nod at different points in 2021 in Sarkisian’s first year with his own dual-threat flashes in the process. Murphy oozes potential on one of the most impressive quarterback frames seen over the last several recruiting cycles. Many feel the Californian needs at least a year to develop his game, but few deny his raw talent.

Arch Manning
Arch Manning is up to more than 220 pounds, as college coaches saw in person this spring / John Garcia, Jr

Is Manning willing to wait to be "the guy" once he gets to college?

We think the answer is most likely, especially with how understated his camp has tried to be in public regarding the NFL legacy’s potential, but the stagger of depth at Georgia versus the promising pair at Alabama has a different feel compared to Texas due to the returning-starter likelihood in Austin for 2023. If he isn’t willing to wait, the SEC options seem to make more sense, though the reserve talent on all three rosters poses intrigue at the game’s most important position. 

Every element of this recruitment has been overanalyzed, especially since Manning doesn’t have a clear timeline for a decision, but the simplest discussion around the talent he will likely be competing against once he arrives at his college of choice could become an element of focus in the final evaluation. Of course Manning’s own talent and/or hype could cause some pause for other passers on his roster of choice, as college football has proven most fluid at the quarterback position of late.

Have a recruiting question? Connect with @SIAllAmerican and/or @JohnGarcia_Jr to submit yours and it could be featured on the next mailbag. 

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