Arch Manning talks Alabama visit as recruitment still feels wide open

Alabama football is trying to make up ground with five-star QB Arch Manning but did that happen on his official visit over the weekend? 

College football recruiting is heating up and before long, some of the top recruits in the 2023 class are going to be making their decisions.

That includes five-star quarterback Arch Manning, who is ranked No. 1 overall in the 2023 class and No. 1 among quarterbacks.

Last weekend, Manning continued his recruitment and took an official visit to Alabama. It was the third official visit for Arch Manning who also took official visits to both Georgia and Texas.

Coming into the weekend, Alabama football wasn’t really viewed as a favorite for Arch Manning. It has been strongly in the mix throughout his recruitment but the Crimson Tide seemed to fall off a little bit in the spring and just recently took the commitment of four-star QB Eli Holstein in 2023.

Holstein isn’t Arch Manning. But he does rank as a top-10 QB in the 2023 class and is also a top-100 prospect that was committed to Texas A&M at one time.

It was reported at one point that Alabama football was going to wait for Arch Manning, so many assumed taking Holstein would put them out of the mix.

Now, it appears as though Alabama wants to take two QBs in 2023. It’s why the Tide hosted Dylan Lonergan recently, on top of Manning.

The question is, are the Crimson Tide still a player in this recruitment?

Can Alabama football still land Arch Manning?

"“Just another really good solid visit,” Isidore Newman head coach Nelson Stewart said of Manning’s visits to Alabama to 247 sports. “Like he always is, all positive.“They’ve been recruiting him for a really long time. Pete Golding and Bill O’Brien and Coach Saban have built that relationship, they’ve worked hard to put themselves in position for the official visit.”"

According to Manning’s high school coach, the visit went well but that comment doesn’t exactly give Alabama football fans a reason to be excited coming out of the visit.

There haven’t been any crystal ball projections for Manning yet, but the On3 prediction machine still gives Texas the slight edge over Georgia. The Longhorns have a 50-percent chance to win his commitment, while Georgia is at 44 percent and Alabama football is still at three.

Gun to my head, I think Manning is going to go to Georgia. He’s expected to make a commitment before his senior season, so we are in the stretch run and it will be interesting to see what the tea leaves say about this recruitment in the coming weeks.