Arch Manning, Will Randle receive visit from Steve Sarkisian and other Texas coaches

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has until 12 a.m. on Monday to make all the necessary rounds visiting recruits and their families in-home, and on Tuesday night he saw two of the most important members of his 2023 recruiting class.

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Sarkisian ventured to New Orleans, La. to visit Texas commits in Five-Star Plus+ quarterback Arch Manning and three-star tight end Will Randle.

Sarkisian was joined on the trip by assistant head coach, special teams coordinator, and tight ends coach Jeff Banks, quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee, and defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach Terry Joseph.

Manning, the No. 1 overall prospect in the On3 Consensus, committed to Texas over Alabama and Georgia in June after visits to Austin, Athens, and Tuscaloosa. He is the son of Cooper Manning, the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, and the grandson of Archie Manning.

During his senior season with Isidore Newman, Manning completed 61 percent of his passes for 2325 yards with a 34-to-2 touchdown to interception ratio while leading the Greenies. He passed both his uncles to take over the No. 1 spot in passing yardage (8,599 yards), passing touchdowns (115), total yardage (9,754), and total touchdowns (140).

Randle, a 6-foot-3, 225-pounder, committed to Texas over competing offers from LSU, Virginia, Alabama, Florida State, Kentucky, and others. Randle suffered a torn ACL during Isidore Newman’s 54-52 win over Benton (La.) earlier in the 2022 season.

Texas coaches recently visited Randle for an in-home visit. Randle is one of two tight ends in the Longhorns’ 2023 recruiting class alongside Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei three-star Spencer Shannon. 

Inside Texas evaluation on Manning

Strengths: Good height and frame for the position. May not be done growing. Shows good functional athleticism in game settings. Will prove surprisingly elusive and faster than expected when the play breaks down. Has good film from both under center and in shotgun. Takeaway and drop are smooth with sure cross-steps.  Ball carriage is mid-chest and eyes remain downfield. Reaches the top of his drop with a balanced athletic base and ready to push off to deliver the ball. Reads both sides of the field and influences the safeties routinely with head movement. Resets his feet frequently as needed. Delivers a consistent, mostly three-quarters delivery that is compact and quick. Finishes with a nice wrist snap and usually on balance with a good transfer of lower body power to upper body movement. 

Ball rotation is usually pretty high RPM and the nose doesn’t dive. Drives the ball really well to the short zones and up the seams. Has arm strength to reach all zones. Accuracy is exceptional and ball placement is very good most of the time. Has a good feel for the required throw, showing great touch on the bucket throw and good drive on the driven throw.  Throws every route in what appears to be a pretty diverse playbook. Feel for the pass rush is instinctive and he knows his escape routes well. 

His best film is on the run with some very difficult throws both to his throwing hand side and also back against his body.  Makes a great off-schedule throw with regularity and clearly understands the body mechanics required to get the ball down the field in those situations (e.g., re-squaring his shoulders). His TD passes jumped up markedly this season (34). Scored eight rushing TD as a sophomore. Last name sounds familiar, hmm.

Areas for Improvement / Concern: I’d like to see the ball out a little earlier, especially on comebacks/curls/hooks. The receiver doesn’t need to wait for it. I’m concerned about the level of talent he’s playing with and against.  He’s clearly the best player on his team and an 8-0 regular season is no fluke, but there are a lot of plays where he’s running for his life (kinda like Archie). Interceptions are at a rate of 1 every 35 pass attempts for the career (Ewers is 1 every 80 and Klubnik 1 every 105). We don’t know the context of those interceptions.