The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Arch Manning sees name in red and black
Nephew of Peyton, Eli drew plenty of attention Saturday.
ATHENS — Georgia students want Arch Manning. We know this because a bunch of them painted it on their bodies in red and black and white.
Of this, most folks are aware, or at least those many thousands that watched the game on ESPN Saturday night. Arch Manning — son of Cooper, nephew of Peyton and Eli, grandson of Archie — got a ton of airtime during the Bulldogs’ win over South Carolina.
He is a highly rated junior recruiting prospect from Isidore Newman High in New Orleans, same as his father and uncles, and he was on a visit to UGA on Saturday.
We knew Arch had a good time just from the many frames ESPN provided Saturday night. But Uncle Eli confirmed as much and shed a little more light on the situation on the Pat Mcafee Show on Monday.
“Aggressive move, aggressive move!” Eli Manning told Mcafee with a laugh. “I did talk to Coop and Arch was impressed by that. Never mind NIL and all that. He’s not worried about that stuff. He’s worried about the body paint on the student section.”
One of the highlights of the evening was when Georgia freshman receiver Adonai Mitchell caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from quarterback JT Daniels. Without breaking stride, Mitchell continued right through the west end zone and jumped up to high-five Arch and those in the Manning party sitting on the front row of the grandstand.
Again, all captured by ESPN’S cameras.
The recruitment of Arch Manning is not likely to get resolved anytime soon. Already 6-foot-4, 215 pounds as a junior, Manning is a 5-star prospect with offers from virtually every major program.
Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, LSU and Ole Miss are thought to be his main targets. Ole Miss is, of course, the alma mater of Cooper, Eli and Archie. But that didn’t stop Peyton from going to Tennessee.
Meanwhile, Georgia appears to be wellstocked at quarterback at the moment. Daniels is a junior, Carson Beck is a sophomore, Brock Vandagriff is a freshman and Rabun County High’s Gunner Stockton is a 5-star, committed senior.
None of which will stop the Bulldogs from relentlessly pursuing Manning. Kirby Smart’s philosophy is to sign the best player at every position every year, and that includes quarterback.
And to nobody’s surprise, the hype train is approaching max speed. Recruiting analysts are saying Arch is going to be even better than Eli and Peyton.
“I feel for him,” Eli told Mcafee. “I mean, he’s got so much pressure, so many expectations. People say, ‘I hear your nephew is going to be the best of all of y’all.’ I’m like, ‘oh, that’s no pressure!’ Peyton just went into the Hall of Fame this year.”