The days sandwiched between the end of the NBA season and the beginning of the NFL season are the dog days of sports reporting. It’s a time when networks and publications latch on to the NBA Draft and free agency period, the MLB trade deadline, NFL camps, and really anything that can get a reporter through the day. First Take is never one to miss an opportunity to start the silly season early, and Tuesday was no exception as they discussed the topic “Will Arch Manning surpass Peyton, Eli & Archie to become the greatest Manning yet?”
If you are keeping score at home, or at a specific family reunion near New Orleans, let’s take a quick look at the credentials. Peyton Manning is a two-time Super Bowl champion and one of the top 5-10 quarterbacks to ever play the game. Eli Manning is also a two-time Super Bowl champion whose legendary playoff runs are cemented in NFL lore. Archie Manning is the patriarch who architected the familial football dynasty and was a dynamic signal-caller in his own right relegated to what was at the time considered football purgatory in the Bayou. Arch Manning, however, just wrapped up his sophomore year in high school.
“Peyton Manning was like the most excellent player who ever lived until it mattered most and then Eli was the best,” Max Kellerman lobbied while breaking down Peyton, Eli, and Archie’s attributes. “He may have all of that in him. He doesn’t have to be the best at each category, just mix it all up in there.”
It is a topic that did not go unnoticed by the sports media. Many writers and talking heads had the same conclusion: it is nuts to be talking about this right now.
For context, Arch is by all accounts an elite prospect at this point in his high school career. He’s had eyes on him since middle school due to his highly-publicized surname, with his Isadore Newman football games broadcast on the ESPN family of networks in recent years. He is the No. 4 overall player in the country by the 247Sports composite for the 2023 class, including the No. 1 quarterback in the class. While his recruitment is being played close to the chest, the options he is reportedly considering at this early stage are Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, SMU, and Texas along with his mother’s alma mater in Virginia, and his father, uncle, and grandparents’ alma mater in Ole Miss.
The recruiting machine and the content machine are two that seemingly are never-ending. Though, contemplating whether or not a kid who has yet to attend his junior prom is destined for greatness surpassing his legendary family members seems like at least one of those machines may have a loose cog in it.
