There have been three schools seemingly in the thick of the Arch Manning sweepstakes. Many have that recruiting battle down to three prestigious schools: Alabama, Georgia, and Texas.
Only one of these schools will ultimately land Manning, and the others need to have a solid backup plan if Manning does not choose their program in the coming months.
National recruiting analyst Greg Biggins was on the 247 Football Recruiting Podcast earlier this week, where he detailed that another top quarterback prospect could head to Alabama, which could seemingly lead Manning elsewhere in his recruiting process.
“Bama obviously loves Eli Holstein,” said Biggins. “They’re not going to basically wait around for Arch. They see Eli as a guy as a guy and they seem like they’re going to zero in on him and make a hard push for him if you’ve got Nick Saban calling him.”
“So fascinating to see if Eli does go to Alabama and then immediately our attention will turn to Arch. Does that remove Alabama? You have to assume it does.”
Holstein, from Zachary, LA, was also predicted by 247Sports Crystal Ball recruiting insider Hank South to be joining the Crimson Tide earlier this week.
He is currently the eighth-ranked quarterback recruit in the class of 2023, according to 247 Sports. Manning is the top-ranked one, and the top-ranked player overall.
247Sports is not the only outlet that seems to think Alabama may be forced to go in a different direction from Manning. On3 Sports reported Wednesday that there is belief that the Crimson Tide’s chances to land Manning are “fading away”.
Alabama's chances to land Five-Star Plus+ QB Arch Manning are fading away according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine. Texas and Georgia are still leading the way…
More HERE: https://t.co/0cDFOutC01 pic.twitter.com/JOdzGSIHnS
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) May 4, 2022
Alabama head coach Nick Saban is far too smart to let one recruit determine how well a recruiting class is going to be for him, so it makes sense that they have another quarterback recruit in mind.
Obviously Manning is highly coveted, and surely Alabama wants him, but how long will the school wait on Manning’s decision if it is true that they may be falling out of the running for him?
Alabama is still Alabama, so anything is possible. But it appears more and more by the day that Georgia and Texas are emerging as the true top favorites to land Manning.
