Arch Manning: Who leads and will Georgia visit move the needle?

Arch Manning visited Georgia football over the weekend and at this point, it’s worth asking if the Dawgs have enough to overtake Texas and Alabama? 

There are obviously a number of prized recruits in the 2023 college football recruiting class, but none more so than top-ranked Arch Manning who visited Georgia football over the weekend.

The Bulldogs have been one of the constants in this recruitment and the defending national champions have been a juggernaut on the recruiting trail under Kirby Smart.

While Manning was the top target visiting this weekend, a number of other elite prospects were on campus and the Bulldogs started trending with crystal ball projections.

One in favor of Georgia football was for top-50 tight end Landen Thomas, as well as a couple for edge rusher Gabriel Harris who is just outside the top 100 according to the 247 sports composite rankings.

That’s all well and good but Arch Manning is the big prize. Kirby Smart has ties to the Mannings and the Bulldogs have been dominant without a truly elite quarterback, so just imagine what having Arch Manning at UGA would look like. It’s a scary thought for the rest of college football.

Here’s what a Georgia expert for On3.com thinks about the Bulldogs’ chances of actually making it happen:

"“Yes, we’ve heard the buzz around Alabama and Texas, and we do believe it to be legitimate,” DawgsHQ’s Jake Reuse said. “What we also believe to be legitimate is that Manning isn’t putting visits in just for the sake of doing it. From what we’re hearing the Dawgs in no way believe they are out of this recruitment, and this weekend will likely be a much clearer window into just how things may take shape moving forward.”"

Who leads in the recruitment of  Arch Manning?

It’s really hard to say at this point. The On3.com prediction machine has Alabama in the top spot right now with a 39 percent chance to win Arch Manning’s commitment, followed by Texas at 34 and Georgia at 15 percent. (Georgia football got a 4-percent boost this weekend).

There are no crystal ball projections yet for Arch Manning. On3.com also uses expert predictions but visits and other factors are considered for their prediction machine and so far, the Crimson Tide is the team to beat.

However, Texas recently hired David Cutcliffe, Manning’s former OC at Tennessee and also Eli Manning’s head coach at Ole Miss. Arch Manning is also going to make another visit to Texas this coming weekend which will be his third.

Florida, LSU, and Ole Miss are other teams that are reportedly in the mix for Arch Manning, yet those schools seem to be running behind Texas, Alabama, and Georgia.

Even though Alabama is said to be the leader, it also hosted top-100 QB Eli Holstein recently and was also in the top five for another five-star signal-caller over the weekend.

Yet, Nick Saban is Nick Saban so you can never count out Alabama. However, at this point, it’s hard for me to call Bama the clear-cut favorite when Texas and now Georgia seem right there.