ESPN insider reveals how Arch Manning's commitment is 'building block' for SEC contention

As Texas gets ready to join the SEC in the near future, Five Star Plus+ quarterback Arch Manning appears to be the face of the transition to the league from the Big 12 after committing on Thursday. But he won’t instantly make the Longhorns contenders, ESPN’s Pete Thamel argued.

During an appearance on Get Up on ESPN, Thamel said Texas still has a long way to go as Steve Sarkisian and Co. get ready to jump leagues. Texas went 5-7 in Sarkisian’s season at the helm, but hit the transfer portal and brought in Quinn Ewers — another former Five Star Plus+ recruit — to be its new quarterback this offseason.

Still, Thamel said the Longhorns need more playmakers to make a run in the SEC once they make the move.

“They have so far to go that they are so far beyond one recruit helping them get into that conversation,” Thamel said. “I mean, they need to make a bowl this year. They went 5-7 and lost to Kansas at home. The best way to think about the state of this Texas program now, in the moment Arch Manning is committed, is that they’re essentially three touchdowns behind Arkansas, which is a middle-of-the-pack team in the SEC. They lost at Arkansas by essentially three touchdowns last year. So what Arch Manning does is give them a building block for SEC competitiveness. He gives them a linchpin, a face of their recruiting. A magnet for other blue chips that can help them build and be competitive in the SEC.

“But to say that Arch Manning [helps Texas] roll out of bed and compete with Alabama and Georgia now is crazy. They have a long way to go. This is certainly a huge help and you can’t overstate what a big deal this is, but before we all yell, ‘Texas is back,’ let’s wait a few years and stack a few recruiting classes and really fill that roster with more talent.”

ESPN’s Rece Davis on Arch Manning: ‘I expected that he would go to Georgia’

Later int he day, ESPN analyst Rece Davis joined First Take to talk about Manning’s commitment and expressed surprise he chose Texas over SEC schools such as Georgia, Alabama and others.

“Talking to people close to Arch and also people who’ve worked with him, the relationship with Sarkisian was huge and has been there from his days as a coordinator at Alabama and carried over to Texas,” Davis said, in part. “But what I had thought — and from hearing things in recent weeks — is that Georgia has sort of turned the tide, so to speak. I expected that he would go to Georgia. But I guess the relationship with Sarkisian carried the day.”