The Manning quarterback tree keeps growing, and the next name to watch is Marshall Manning.
Peyton Manning’s son is set to begin his freshman year at Baylor School in Tennessee, but he won’t be handed the job right away. Instead, he’ll open his high school career as a backup behind a more experienced quarterback.
As Rivals’ Andy Villamarzo reported after speaking with Baylor head coach Erik Kimrey on the “Voice of High School Football Podcast,” Marshall Manning will start out in a reserve role.
“Marshall Manning is our backup quarterback this year. He’ll be a freshman, so we’re excited about him,” Kimrey told Villamarzo.
For now, Manning is unranked, and he’ll be learning behind 2027 four-star recruit and Ole Miss commit Keegan Croucher. Croucher is ranked No. 122 nationally and No. 10 among quarterbacks, and his recruiting path has been anything but ordinary. He picked the Rebels over offers from Miami, Penn State, Michigan and Oregon.
Croucher began at Fonda-Fultonville (NY) as a freshman, then moved to Cheshire Academy (CT) for his sophomore and junior seasons. After that, he transferred to Brentwood Academy (TN), and as of writing appears set to finish his high school career at Baylor.
He’s also stepping into a major role. Baylor needs a new starter after Louisville signee and four-star freshman Briggs Cherry, who led the school to a Tennessee Division II Class AAA championship and went 24-1 over his two seasons as the starter.
Cherry wasn’t immediately named the guy at Baylor either, and that path worked out just fine. Manning’s turn, though, will have to wait. For now, the spotlight stays on the family name - and on the backup spot.
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The latest chapter in Baylor Schools quarterback room has a little Manning-family intrigue attached to it. Marshall Manning, just starting his high school career in Tennessee, is entering a program that has a recent habit of letting the competition sort itself out, and that matters because Baylor has seen this path before. The schools next signal-caller will be working behind a young, highly regarded quarterback in Keegan Croucher, a major Ole Miss commitment whose recruiting profile already gives the room a different kind of buzz.
For Tennessee fans, the bigger picture is less about a depth-chart snapshot than the setting around it. Baylor has developed quarterbacks before, and the Manning name still carries obvious weight because of the familys long line of passers from Archie to Peyton, Eli and Arch. Marshalls first step is simply getting into the mix, but the way Baylor has handled quarterback development in the past suggests this situation could stay interesting well beyond the opening weeks. [Read more 🡒]
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Some of those swaps will look natural to fans, while others are the sort that immediately spark debate about whether a number fits the player or the position. There were no official explanations attached to the changes, which leaves plenty of room for opinion, and that is usually where the fun begins with a roster reveal like this. [Read more 🡒]