Texas Quarterback Ranked the Best No.1 Recruit of the 2000s originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

College football and recruiting reporter Grace Raynor for The Athletic has turned heads by ranking the No. 1 overall recruits since 2000, and she has a Texas Longhorns quarterback at the number one spot. 

We have seen 25 players ranked as the No. 1 recruit this century, three of whom were Longhorns QBs. However, Raynor went for one of the greatest college players of all time, Vince Young, the No. 1 overall recruit from the 2002 class. 

Young was ranked ahead of now Jacksonville Jaguars’ Travis Hunter and quarterback Trevor Lawrence, both at the top of the 2022 and 2018 recruiting classes, respectively. Former Texas QB Quinn Ewers was slotted in at No.9, while Arch Manning was No.23 in Raynor’s rankings.

The Texas native was a five-star commit and became the first prospect to receive a 1.0000 recruiting rating. Ewers also received the same rating, with 12 players surpassing that since 2002.

During his four seasons at Texas, Young scooped several top individual awards, including the Manning Award, the Davey O’Brien Award, and the Maxwell Award. 

Arguably, his most iconic moment came in the 2005 National Championship game against USC, a game that many believe is the best of all time. 

Young’s touchdown run on fourth-and-five from the nine-yard line gave the Longhorns a one-point lead. He then added the two-point conversion, with his team leading 41-38 with just 15 seconds remaining. He earned the Rose Bowl MVP for his performance in the game. 

His legendary status at the program led to his No. 10 jersey being retired in 2008 and to his induction into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2018

Related: Paul Finebaum Drops Huge Endorsement on Texas Phenom Arch Manning

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.

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