Arch Manning committed to Texas over UGA. What does that mean for the Bulldogs?

Prior to 12:16 p.m. ET Thursday, Arch Manning’s Twitter was almost non-existent. Besides the more than 30,000 followers and verification checkmark, you’d almost have no idea the account existed. His twitter bio simply, comically reads: “High school student.” 

But with his first tweet came a tidal wave of response and reaction throughout the high school recruiting, college football and sports worlds.

He’s going to Texas, choosing Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns over Georgia.

Arch watch is over:5-star quarterback Arch Manning commits to Texas over Georgia, others

Manning is the top-rated recruit in the 2023 and possibly the most profiled recruit ever. Not only because of his name, but also because of his talent at the quarterback position. 

Texas now has the No. 19 recruiting class in the country per 247Sports. 

Conversely, even without the No. 1 recruit committing, Georgia has the No.5 recruiting class, behind Notre Dame, Ohio State, Clemson and Penn State.

More:What to know about CJ Allen and the rest of the 2023 UGA football recruiting class

So how will Arch Manning committing elsewhere affect Georgia recruiting — both present and future?

Let’s go: 

Where does the next UGA QB commit come from and when? 

It feels like, and has felt this way since the end of April when talented in-state quarterbacks Dylan Lonergan and Malachi Singleton cut UGA from their top schools, that Kirby Smart put in all of his chips on getting Manning.

When Manning tweeted and put it out in the world that he’d be taking his talents to Austin, Smart probably didn’t curse the Manning name and delete his number. That’s not how Smart works. He’ll continue to court and pursue Manning until the quarterback signs his letter of intent in December. And who knows, that relationship could continue until Manning gets drafted in the 2027 NFL Draft, given Smart’s success in the transfer portal.

More:Whit Weeks, elite receivers headline another big recruiting weekend for Georgia football

Still, the options have gotten slimmer. Of the 87 quarterbacks rated by 247Sports composite, only 32 are uncommitted. Four of those 32 quarterbacks who have yet to make a verbal commitment are from Georgia — four-star Lonergan, three-star Colin Houck, three-star Kasen Weisman and three-star Jalen Woods. 

Lonergan, the only one of those in-state quarterbacks with a UGA offer, named a Top 4 of Alabama, Ohio State, South Carolina and Stanford. 

Houck is a two-sport star at Parkview and holds offers for both his abilities on the gridiron and at home plate as a baseball player. In 2022, he has picked up football offers from Illinois, Indiana and Miami to go with previous offers from Arkansas, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. 

Weisman’s Power 5 offers come from California and Kansas. This spring he went on a bunch of unofficial visits to a high profile Group of 5 schools, highlighted by a trip to Cincinnati. 

There’s a possibility these two stick around and stay in touch with UGA through the fall and come on as a player to learn Todd Monken’s system and be a strong scout team performer.

Also as mentioned in this piece, Georgia's current quarterback room is deep with talent, including two top-rated recruits that have yet to see real game time in Gunner Stockton and Brock Vandagriff.

Which 2024 quarterbacks is Georgia going after? 

Though Georgia “got beat” in the recruitment of their top quarterback prospects in this class, Smart won’t let it happen again. 

In the 2024 recruiting class, there are a couple of top-rated names to know.

More:‘I have no idea what stars are’: How Kirby Smart, UGA football is winning the five-star game

More:On 'the extent students go to help recruit' as Georgia's game environment impresses top targets

Five-star Julian Sayin is a gunslinger from California who has made the cross-country trip several times, telling Dawgpost that he’s incredibly intrigued with Monken’s pro-style offensive system. He’s 6-foot-1, 185 and took a southeastern trip to Alabama, LSU and Texas earlier this month. 

Another prospect that Georgia was in on early is five-star Carolinian Jadyn Davis. He’s played at a couple different high schools, but has had success everywhere he’s been. Davis was last in Athens in May, but has been in contact with UGA for several years now.

DJ Lagway is a five-star from Texas that spent time at Clemson and Georgia recently. He told On3 that he enjoyed getting to meet with Monken and Smart and go through drills by himself. 

How does Arch’s commitment affect the rest of the 2023 class? 

The idea of playing with the best quarterback is enticing. It means you’ll have better passes thrown your way, you have a great talent that you’re blocking for and there’s someone who understands the importance of RPO. 

All of these things are attractive for skill players and makes Manning’s commitment intriguing to look at the rest of offensive prospects in the 2023 class. 

Five-star running back Reuben Owens is tight with Manning, but the running back committed to Louisville earlier this week over Georgia and Texas. 

There’s probably a list somewhere of the amount of receivers that will now suddenly reconsider Texas and the prospect of catching passes from a Manning. That includes UGA top prospect four-star Jalen Hale, who is from Longview, Texas. The talented receiver took videos and pictures with Manning when they were both on official visits to Georgia.

On the other side of the ball, four-star linebacker Raul Aguirre and four-star defensive lineman Sydir Mitchell are two guys that took official visits to both Athens and Austin. 

Time will tell the impact Manning has on flipping different prospects into wearing burnt orange opposed to the red and black.

McClain Baxley is a recruiting reporter for the Athens Banner-Herald and the USA TODAY Network. Reach him by email at mbaxley@onlineathens.com or on Twitter at @mcclainbaxley.