Texas 5-star RB signee Cedric Baxter Jr. on Arch Manning: 'You can just tell he wants to win'

Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater five-star running back Cedric Baxter Jr. is headed to Texas for his college football career. When the Longhorns signee arrives in Austin, he is excited to play with some talented quarterbacks.

At hotel check-in for the Under Armour All-America Game, Baxter Jr. expressed high praise of fellow 2023 signee and New Orleans Isidore Newman Five-Star Plus+ quarterback Arch Manning. He believes that Manning will be a big contributor to Texas’ signal-callers.

“Arch is a great person, but he’s definitely a competitor,” Baxter Jr. said. “He texts us everyday asking what are we doing to get better. You can just tell he wants to win.”

A 6-foot-1, 215-pound tailback, Baxter Jr. has gotten to know Manning, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 On3 Consensus, outside of football.

“People get it confused because his name is Arch Manning,” said Baxter Jr., the No. 23 overall prospect and No. 1 running back in the On3 Consensus. “The last name carries a lot of weight, but he’s a regular teenage kid like the rest of us. He lives like we do, and goes to class like we do. Even though that is his last name, he carries himself like a regular person.”

Manning and Baxter Jr. are two of the top prospects in the Longhorns’ 2023 recruiting class. With Manning, Baxter Jr. and Denton (Texas) Ryan five-star linebacker Anthony Hill, head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff have three players ranked No. 1 at their position, per the On3 Consensus.

Baxter Jr. acknowledged that Florida State, where he was previously committed, pushed hard for his pledge. However, the Sunshine State native chose to stick with Texas, in part because it is “where I want to be.”

In addition to being a part of “the class that sets the trajectory for the future,” Baxter Jr. stayed with the Longhorns because of his relationship with running backs coach Tashard Choice. The two grew very close during his recruitment.

“He’s a cool dude,” Baxter Jr. said. “He’s real genuine. He stays himself. With professional and college football, you find a lot of guys that try to fake it. But he stays himself. He’s literally himself the whole time. I was watching a video of him on YouTube from when he played in the league. He did his little thing he did in the locker room. The person I saw 15 years ago is the same person today.”