Peyton Manning’s son is already drawing college attention before he’s even climbed out of a backup role at Baylor School in Chattanooga.
Marshall Manning, who is 15, has picked up offers from four schools, including two that sit inside the top five: No. 4 Miami and No.
5 Ohio State. Purdue and Missouri State are in the mix too, even though he’s still early in his high school run and hasn’t announced a commitment.
No visit schedule has been made public.
The freshman transferred from Denver before eighth grade and has spent this fall backing up four-star senior Keegan Croucher, an Ole Miss commit. That has kept Marshall’s reps limited, but the first one that mattered came in August against Brentwood Academy. On his first varsity snap, he completed an eight-yard pass to junior receiver Antwaun Adams for a first down.
That play has become the clip recruiters keep circling back to. Marshall also got attention when he made his high school debut in an August scrimmage, a night that already had people comparing his release to Peyton’s. He has kept a low-profile path since then, with the Baylor staff not moving him ahead of Croucher.
The family connections are impossible to ignore. Marshall has worn No. 16, the same number Peyton wore at Tennessee, and Tennessee, Ole Miss and Texas are still the names people bring up first, even though none of them is on his current offer list.
Arch Manning was asked about the attention his cousin is getting this week, and he kept it light. “Marshall’s got a lot of advice,” Arch told People.
“I just wanna be the fun cousin and, you know, talk about anything else. And if he wants advice, I’ll give it to him, but I just wanna be a cousin and friends, and have fun.”
Peyton and Eli are there too if Marshall ever wants a more formal sounding board. For now, though, the next step is simple: more snaps, not a signing day.
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There are encouraging signs inside the group, though, with Chase Smith and Justin Scott among the players showing stronger tackling consistency. The larger question for Miami is whether the bye week becomes a reset or just a pause, because the margin for error on defense can shrink quickly if the missed tackles keep piling up as conference play continues. [Read more 🡒]