3 Texas football recruits who can help Arch Manning bring the Longhorns back
Arch Manning is coming to bring Texas football back (all the way this time) but the quarterback has more recruits coming with him to save the Longhorns.
If anyone is going to be the one to officially and unequivocally bring Texas football Back with a capital B, Arch Manning feels like the one.
The No. 1 overall player in the 2023 college football recruiting rankings is heading to Austin and, while the plan appears to be for him to sit behind Quinn Ewers as a freshman, the expectations for the nephew of Eli and Peyton Manning are astronomical. He has the arm, the athleticism, the mind and the polish as an incoming freshman to perhaps be one of the greats. And as such, give Longhorns fans what they’ve longed for over many years — a football team that’s all the way back.
No matter how good Arch Manning is, though, he can’t fully revive Texas football by himself. He’s undoubtedly going to need help. Luckily, Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns boast the No. 3-ranked recruiting class for 2023. But these three incoming recruits, in particular, will be the ones that will most help Manning become a Tim Riggins, Texas forever legend.
Texas football: 3 recruits who will help Arch Manning bring the Longhorns back
Malik Muhammad can be a game-changer for the Texas football defense
Perhaps the most important factor outside of Arch Manning’s control when he takes over the Texas offense is that he doesn’t play on the other side of the ball. And if the Longhorns are going to play well enough throughout an entire season, Sarkisian is going to need the defense to step up and make plays just as much as the offense.
Malik Muhammad actually isn’t the highest-rated recruit on the defensive side of the ball in this 2023 class. That distinction belongs to 5-star (No. 18 overall) linebacker Anthony Hill. However, the Texas secondary is going to be a bigger focus, in my opinion, moving forward to help maximize Manning and the offense’s effectiveness.
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Thus, Muhammad is going to be a more critical factor and the Dallas native looks like he has the goods to be a star at cornerback. The 4-star recruit ranked No. 45 overall in the class and, listed at 5-foot-11.5 and 175 pounds, has a ton of versatility given his high-end athleticism, speed and smooth movement skills.
While he does need to put on some mass in order to not get bullied by bigger pass-catchers, Muhammad is as physically gifted as any defensive back in the 2023 class. For the Longhorns to reach the heights they want to with Arch, they’ll need him to be an anchor for the defense in the secondary.