Duke extends offer to 4-star quarterback Arch Manning, nephew of Peyton and Eli

Manning might just be the most famous name in American football. But for Blue Devil head coach David Cutcliffe, the name is that much more personal—and the Manning-Cutcliffe connection might not be over anytime soon.

Last week, Duke extended an offer to Arch Manning, the top quarterback in the Class of 2023 and No. 5 overall player. The son of Cooper Manning, Arch was the MaxPreps National Freshman of the Year as he threw for over 2,400 yards and 34 touchdowns, leading Isidore Newman (New Orleans) to a 9-2 record. Cooper is the older brother of NFL star quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, making Arch the next potential Manning to find success at the quarterback position. His grandfather, Archie Manning, is a College Football Hall of Fame quarterback who played 13 seasons in the NFL, primarily for the New Orleans Saints.

With his prolific talent at such a young age, the young Manning has already picked up numerous offers, including Alabama, Boston College, Georgia, LSU, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas. Many of these schools can point to family connections in their pitch—Peyton was a Heisman runner-up at Tennessee; Archie, Eli and Cooper all attended Ole Miss; and LSU is relatively local to the New Orleans-based family. 

However, none of these other schools can offer the so-called “quarterback guru” that is Coach Cutcliffe. Cutcliffe served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach while Peyton was at Tennessee and was the head coach for Ole Miss when Eli attended. Both of them still routinely come back to visit and they were at Duke two offseasons ago to workout with former Blue Devil quarterback Daniel Jones, the No. 6 overall pick in last year’s NFL draft. Ironically, Jones became the player that replaced Eli in the starting role for the New York Giants. 

Arch Manning is one of just eight players that Duke has offered in the 2023 recruiting class and the only quarterback. As a pro-style quarterback, he could provide a different skill set compared to other committed recruits like Riley Leonard and Jordan Moore from the Class of 2021, who are considered “dual-threat” quarterbacks by 247Sports. While his potential addition to the squad is several years away, it’s a promising development that many people will surely have their eyes on for the near future.