There is no question football's royal family is the Mannings. No last name carries quite the same weight than the one that Archie Manning, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning all don. After all, the three quarterbacks that incredibly shared the same roof at one point accounted for more than 150,000 passing yards and 1,000 touchdowns in the NFL.
If you could create the perfect quarterback specimen in a lab, it wouldn't be a bad idea to pour some of that coveted Manning DNA in the beaker. Mix in bits and pieces from the abilities of Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady and you've got yourself a Hall-of-Fame franchise signal caller.
Those are the sky-high expectations for the next star in the Manning lineage: Arch Manning. The son of Cooper Manning, the third manning brother, Arch began his career in 2019 as a freshman at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, which is the same Louisiana high school all of Archie's sons played at.
Arch won't graduate until 2023 but 247Sports is already very, very high on him. The recruiting website ranks him the No. 1 quarterback and No. 3 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class. He started at quarterback as a freshman for the Greenies in 2019 and led them to a 9-1 regular season and playoff berth in his first season. He was named MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year.
His grandfather, Archie, has already said that Arch is better than Peyton or Eli were at his age as high school quarterbacks. Both of them played junior varsity as freshmen.
QB Arch Manning Recruiting
Arch Manning Comes in at the #1 QB in the Nation
Listed #5 Overall pic.twitter.com/4gkfdNI1UQ
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) August 19, 2020
Arch is a five-star recruit, so it's no surprise that every major program is in on him. Ole Miss, where Archie and Eli both played and Cooper committed to play, has already taken notice. So has the University of Tennessee, where uncle Peyton starred at before a storied career with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos.
According to Rivals, the LSU Tigers are also in the mix right now as well. Head coach Ed Orgeron even paid him a visit in January 2020. Those three schools could have the best chance at nabbing the quarterback with a bright future ahead of him that includes plenty of scholarship offers.
Alabama has also extended an offer to the mega-legacy prospect. Arch even had a Zoom conversation with head coach Nick Saban.
Arch just finished his sophomore season but he's already got NCAA offers from Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, Tennessee, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Duke and Boston College, per 247Sports. Most recently, Notre Dame offered him in March 2021. Sports Illustrated reported he also has offers from Florida State and Arkansas.
Here's a look at his reported list:
- Alabama
- LSU
- Georgia
- Notre Dame
- Texas
- Tennessee
- Ole Miss
- Florida State
- Arkansas
- North Carolina
- Duke
- Boston College
By the time he's a junior or senior, he could have other top college football programs like Clemson and Ohio State bidding for the phenom's services.
Archie told reporters after his grandson's freshman year that he wasn't talking to colleges or media yet, but that's since changed considering the Orgeron visit and Saban video call. There's no doubt that schools are champing at the bit to see how the 6-foot-3, 190-pound quarterback progresses on the football field every Friday night.
What's wild is that when he entered high school, Arch stood just 6-foot-1 and 165 pounds. Almost two years later, the next great Manning quarterback stands 6-foot-3.5 and weighs 200 pounds. A growth spurt and some added weight are a very good thing for a high school quarterback.
In his very first game at the varsity level, he threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns passes on 24-of-34 passing with one interception in a 41-15 win against Lusher.
"We wanted to see maturity and pocket presence, and he did everything we asked him to do as far as executing our offense and his ability to stay mature and balanced leading our wide receivers," Newman High head coach Nelson Stewart told NOLA.com. "That's why he's in this position."
As you'll see in the highlights below, Arch has considerably better agility than either of his uncles did. That's not a huge surprise considering his father was deemed the better overall athlete than Peyton or Eli. Cooper committed to play wide receiver for the Rebels before a rare spinal condition diagnosis forced him off the gridiron at 18.
Quarterback Arch Manning Highlights
RELATED: Archie Manning Torched Alabama for 540 Yards in Prime Time
It's hard to contain excitement when watching Arch, because his bloodline is so terrific. Watching a poised Manning in the pocket dropping in dimes to wide receivers, even at the high school football level, is undeniably awesome.
Arch first stole the show in the team's fall spring game scrimmage and firmly solidified his starting job as a freshman.
In one game his freshman season, he threw for five touchdowns and ran in another one in a 48-21 win over Reserve (La.) Riverside. He racked up 289 yards all with Peyton watching from the stands.
That's not to say Arch doesn't have flaws and won't have bad performances.
He was intercepted just once through his first four games before the Booker T. Washington Lions picked him off four times in a single game. Arch bounced back, however, and led the Greenies in a fourth-quarter touchdown drive to win the game, 27-20, much like you'd expect the nephew of Peyton and Eli to do.
Arch finished his freshman year with 2,438 passing yards and 34 passing touchdowns to just six interceptions, according to statistics kept by MaxPreps. I don't know what any of the other quarterback in the Manning family did as freshmen, but that's pretty darn impressive.
As a sophomore, Arch threw for 1,643 passing yards and 19 touchdowns in eight games before the coronavirus pandemic cut his season short a few games. He made his national TV debut on ESPN in October 2020 when Newman's game against Booker T. Washington was broadcasted across the country. Something tells me that won't be the last time we'll watch him on our screens.
Arch Manning Plays Basketball Too
While it's still early (read: VERY EARLY), it's totally normal to be giddy over a teenager's football skills, even if he's recently out of middle school. Why? Because he's a Manning.
But football isn't the only place Arch thrives. On the basketball court, Manning helped the Greenies to the quarterfinal round of Louisiana's Division III high school basketball tournament with a shot at the state title up for grabs.
Even cooler: the last time Newman High School won a state championship in basketball? Current coach Randy Livingston starred on team alongside Cooper and Peyton Manning.
He's expected to do great things. Whether that's play 15 years in the league and win two Super Bowls with the New York Giants or win five MVPs like his uncles remains to be seen.
The world is going to keep a close eye on Arch Manning for the next couple years, and hopefully one day he's an All-American SEC passer for a CFP contender declaring for the NFL Draft.
Hopefully he knows how to handle the pressure and hype that comes with being ranked the top quarterback in his class. The good news is he can always ask anyone sitting across from him at Thanksgiving for advice.
This article was originally published November 18, 2019 but has been updated after recruiting rankings.
