Miami QB Commit Jaden Rashada Ranked Ahead of Arch Manning in SI99
Photo: Jaden Rashada; Credit: Zach Goodall
The most notable aspect of the Preseason SI99 rankings unveiled by Sports Illustrated on Tuesday was the evaluation of, arguably, the most famous prospect to ever walk the recruiting landscape.
New Orleans (La.) Isidore Newman quarterback Arch Manning, long considered the No. 1 quarterback and overall prospect in the class of 2023, could not be found in the top spot of either ranking. Rather, SI views Manning currently as the No. 5 quarterback this cycle, as well as the No. 10 player in the country regardless of position.
The four signal-callers ahead of the NFL and Pro Football Hall of Fame legacy (in case you didn't know, Arch is the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning) recruit?
- Detroit (Mich.) King's Dante Moore (No. 1 QB, No. 1 overall)
- Downey (Calif.) Warren's Nico Iamaleava (No. 2 QB, No. 4 overall)
- Pittsburg (Calif.) High's Jaden Rashada (No. 3 QB, No. 7 overall)
- Los Alamitos (Calif.) High's Malachi Nelson (No. 4 QB, No. 8 overall)
That's right: Rashada, the leader of the Miami Hurricanes' 2023 recruiting class, stands ahead of Manning and is considered the No. 3 passer in America prior to his senior season.
Director of Football Recruiting John Garcia, Jr. shared the following reasoning for SI's differing assessment of Manning compared to other recruiting outlets' analyses.
Earlier this summer, we broke down those five as the QB prospects having seemingly separated themselves from the rest in the race. There is plenty of depth at the position, considering 11 made the SI99 at quarterback. We went category by category, and at that point Iamaleava and Manning appeared as the best bets. The Tennessee commitment is the highest-ceiling prospect, and the future Longhorn has the strongest floor in the department. But with more digging done over the last two months—from cross-checking more video, sourcing and of course the Elite 11 Finals at the end of that month—things changed.
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The fun part is that we’ll start the process all over throughout the fall, as many of these top passers—all ranked in the top 10 nationally—work as seniors. Manning will be working in a more wide-open offense, Iamaleava transferred twice between his junior and senior season and both Rashada and Nelson are working with new variance among pass catchers around them. Moore now works with a theoretical target on his back looking to avoid being the first Preseason SI99 No. 1 to fail to hold the top spot wire-to-wire (Bryce Young in 2020, Caleb Williams ’21, Travis Hunter ’22).
Rashada, meanwhile, has been a favorite of the SI scouting staff for quite some time. His ability to make "pro throws" thanks to his natural ability to generate velocity, precise accuracy and electric dual-threat nature give him not only a high ceiling at the next level, but also a solid floor, suggesting that he could be ready to play for the Hurricanes sooner rather than later following his enrollment.
You can read All Hurricanes' in-depth scouting report of Rashada's skill-set here.
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