The hype is a big part of Texas. The Longhorns have been dreaming of a national championship for a long time. It will have been 20 years since Vince Young inscribed his name in the endzone after painting Jackson Pollack on the Rose bowl turf during the 2006 national championship campaign game.
It's a high bar to be named the top player. Arch Manning, the top quarterback in the previous recruiting class, will arrive on campus next year with more hype and expectation than Ewers. Manning is one of seven recruits who achieved a perfect score from the recruiting website. The other top players were Ewers, Robert Nkemdiche, Jadeveon Clowney, and Vince Young.
The score isn't a reflection of his skill set but where the individual sites ranked him. Manning 3.0 has the lowest resume of the other players.
Vince Young was a good student in high school. Young threw for over 4,000 yards and 59 touchdown in his senior year at Houston Madison High School. He would have spent his senior season at Ohio State if he hadn't decided to reclassify and go to school there.
North Florida Christian won four state titles in a row under Sims. One of the most well-known recruits of the decade was Clowney.
After transferring to Paramus Catholic High School for his junior year, he made a name for himself by shredding blockers in the trenches.
It isn't a shallow quarterback class. It's difficult to swallow the idea that Manning is better than the five-star talent in this class. Malachi Nelson received his first scholarship offer from auburn in eighth grade and has looked the part of a phenomenal arm talent at los alamitos high school
Manning is projected more than reality. Manning has been praised for his mechanics but football isn't a theoretical exercise. He has been average in important moments. The USC quarterback excelled throughout his prep career.
Manning completed just 6 of 17 passes for 47 yards in Isidore Newman's 49-7 loss to Lafayette Christian in the second round of the Division III playoffs. The closest Newman has come to a state title is when the team advanced to the semifinals.
At OT7 camp, Iamaleava won the Most Valuable Player award. He rose from Rivals 48th ranked prospect to 8th overall after throwing 50 touchdown to just two interception in two seasons as the starter at Warren High School. Arch won 13 of his 14 games in two seasons, but Iamaleava won 13 of his 14 games in two years. Iamaleava was knocked out of the playoffs when they lost to Corona del Mar.
The Warren High School football program lost 22 of its 66 games in the five years leading up to Iamaleava's first season. Iamaleava will be moving back to Long Beach Poly where he will be scrutinized against similar levels of competition.
Don't misunderstand me. Manning is a great football player. He received a grade on a Manning curve. He didn't go to the various 7-on-7 football camps that would pit him against the best players in the country. Manning will either rise to the challenge and become a great signal-caller at Texas or he will be an average collegiate talent. He will become Texas' latest flop if anything short of excellence is not good.
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