Recruiting expert claims Arch Manning would be a 3-star if not for his last name

Recruiting expert Mike Farrell said Arch Manning would only be a high 3-star recruit if he had a different last name.

Arch Manning may have committed to Steve Sarkisian’s Texas football program a few weeks back, but recruiting expert Mike Farrell is questioning his undisputed five-star status to begin with.

Farrell appeared on Monday’s episode of Crain & Company. He suggested that if Manning’s last name were different, Arch Smith would be “a high three-star recruit”, as opposed to the top overall prospect in the entire 2023 recruiting cycle.

"“He plays at a very low level of competition,” said Farrell on Crain & Company. “He had a really good freshman season. I wouldn’t say regression, but he hasn’t progressed. And when he has had to step up against other competition, especially the playoff game where he looked awful, it just hasn’t translated.”"

Now Farrell would follow up by saying that the Manning name certainly carries weight. Manning’s grandfather and both of his uncles were fantastic college and professional players. Had his father not gotten hurt, odds are, he would have been a great wide receiver at Ole Miss in his own right. However, Farrell mentioned every time he watches someone else in this class, he likes them more.

Here is the entire clip on Farrell questioning if Manning should have been a five-star prospect.

Recruiting expert: Arch Manning would be a high 3-star with different surname

No doubt about it, level of competition is a concern for Manning. Isidore Newman may be the place where his uncles, father and Odell Beckham Jr. played high school ball at, but he is not going up against the most talented players Louisiana regularly offers up. While there are plenty of top high school prospects who have flourished after playing at a small school, this is something to monitor.

In a way, this might actually serve Manning’s biggest competitor for the starting job at Texas in two years with Quinn Ewers. The former five-star quarterback for 2022 reclassified to 2021 so he could enroll a full year early at Ohio State. Ewers played at the same high school that produced NFL quarterbacks Chase Daniel and Greg McElroy. Southlake Carroll faces stronger competition.

Regardless of what you want to make of level of competition or not, the 2023 recruiting class has several other intriguing quarterback prospects. Those players include Malachi Nelson (USC), Dante Moore (Oregon), Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee) and Eli Holstein (Alabama), among many others. None of these quarterbacks climbed up the 247Sports Composite because of their last name.

Manning should still be an excellent college quarterback, but his stock seems to be overvalued.

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