The Mannings don’t need my help. However, I’m still willing to provide it.

Another Manning choice is coming, but no one really knows when. Some have predicted that Arch Manning, the No. 1-rated quarterback from Isidore Newman School, is beginning to narrow his choices among more suitors than the Mannings have touchdown passes. He’s been making official visits this fall. Arch had no choice but to become a household name in recruiting circles. The pedigree was just too good. He seems destined to become a household name throughout his playing career. The genes are very strong.

Arch is the nephew of 2 NFL star quarterbacks: Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. He’s the son of Cooper Manning, who was a wide receiver at Ole Miss before a neck injury forced him to quit football for fear of future, serious injury. Arch’s grandfather, Archie Manning, is one of the best quarterbacks in SEC and NFL history — if you watched him play. Manning played on horrid Saints teams but his mobility and ability to make sensational plays with little help was impossible not to appreciate.

That brings us back to Arch, who is the top-rated prospect in the 2023 class. Arch can go to any school he wants to play for. That’s the easy part. The more difficult part is where will Arch go. The Mannings don’t generally give away secrets. Remember when everyone thought Peyton would forgo his senior season at Tennessee and be the first pick in the 1997 NFL Draft? Well, it didn’t exactly work out that way. Peyton was even harder to predict before that.

No one knew where Peyton was going when he announced his college decision. Ole Miss still held a special place in his heart. That’s where his father starred and is still beloved. It was always his plan to play with Cooper together in Oxford, but Cooper’s career was done when Peyton had to make his college decision. That prompted Peyton to look elsewhere. With an open mind, Peyton picked Tennessee, partly because of UT offensive coordinator and quarterback coach David Cutcliffe, who has always had a strong effect on the Manning family’s destiny.

Arch can have success wherever he goes. He’s too talented and too mature to flame out, but some choices are better than others. Some make more sense with the brain. Some just don’t feel like the choice is coming from their heart. If not, the dedication will never be there.

Here are some schools that Arch is considering and the pros/cons of each:

Alabama

Pros: If you stay with Alabama’s football program for long enough, you’re probably going to win a national championship and be a part of some of the biggest games in the nation as long as coach Nick Saban is in Tuscaloosa. Alabama has also shown that it can create top NFL quarterback prospects, such as Mac Jones, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts. That should be something for any quarterback prospect to look at. The proper 1-on-1 mentoring at the quarterback position can mean the difference from a great career in the NFL and just a career in the NFL.

Cons: Saban said he plans to coach for 10 more seasons. That’s a long time for Saban, who turned 70 on Halloween. Saban could just be saying those things so that recruits won’t worry how long he’ll be there for their career. Upcoming prospects seem safe since Alabama travels to West Virginia in 2026. Saban is from West Virginia, so there’s an allure there to stay around for at least 5 more years. That should give Arch a full complement of Saban. However, unless he’s far more advanced than other quarterbacks under Saban, Arch could sit on the bench for 2 years and develop while some other 5-star prospect starts for the Crimson Tide.

Clemson

Pros: There was a time when Clemson looked like an annual national championship contender and could supplant Alabama as the top program in the nation. They Tigers also have a great history of developing quarterbacks like Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence.

Cons: All of those aforementioned pros for Clemson are suddenly very much in doubt. Clemson is 5-3 and the Tigers quarterback play has been horrible this season. There was talk that Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei could lose his job had it not been for the solid performance he turned in during a 30-20 win over Florida State.

Duke

Pros: Duke probably isn’t much of a factor in Arch’s recruiting based on recent reporting. However, Arch should still take a strong look at the Blue Devils. If David Cutcliffe continues to coach long enough, then the Blue Devils could be a great way to set up Arch for a standout NFL career. Follow Cutcliffe’s tutoring and become another top pick in the NFL Draft. It worked for Peyton and Eli. And more recently it worked for Daniel Jones, who replaced Eli as the New York Giants starting quarterback. Heck, Jones was a 2-star recruit with no other Power 5 offers and he left Duke as a first-round pick. So, yes, it could work for Arch.

Cons: Like Saban, Cutcliffe isn’t young. He’s 67 and after 2 losing seasons at Duke and may be moving onto retirement or another position very soon. Duke is 3-5 so winning championships while learning how to be a better quarterback seems unlikely for Arch or any other quarterback.

Georgia

Pros: Georgia looks like it is a quarterback away from being an elite program. The Bulldogs are No. 1 in the nation thanks to a great defense and an offense that can make just enough plays to keep games out of the opponents’ reach. That takes pressure off Georgia’s quarterback, whoever it might be.

Cons: Perhaps Georgia doesn’t have a great quarterback because they’ve done a poor job of developing quarterbacks. Kirby Smart has had 5-star QBs in Jacob Eason, Justin Fields, JT Daniels and Brock Vandagriff. Eason and Fields left. If Arch believes development is an obstacle, then he needs to look elsewhere. However, it’s hard not to imagine him having success if he were to choose the Bulldogs. As for winning championships, Smart still has to prove he can beat Alabama, likely in the SEC Championship Game, to achieve elite status for the Bulldogs.

LSU

Pros: Just because Peyton and Eli didn’t stay in state doesn’t mean that Arch won’t. That largely depends on who LSU hires after a “mutual separation” with Ed Orgeron. It’s unclear which direction LSU will go, but it would be nice if the Tigers pick a coach who has already been recruiting Arch. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin comes to mind.

Cons: The instability of LSU’s football program has to be a concern. Firing Orgeron in the method that LSU did was bizarre. The same could easily be said for how LSU handled former Tiger coach Les Miles’ departure.

Ole Miss

Pros: The Rebels certainly rolled out the big blue carpet for Eli on Oct. 23 when Ole Miss hosted LSU. Eli had his jersey retired, his last name printed in the end zone and was honored at halftime. It was quite a bit of a celebration for a quarterback who didn’t win a college championship of any kind and was 31-12 during his time in Oxford. This was clearly a recruiting ploy for the Mannings in hopes of securing a commitment from Arch. Playing for Kiffin certainly would seem like fun for a quarterback. Kiffin likes to take his shots downfield and usually capitalizes on a quarterbacks’ individual talents.

Cons:  How long will Kiffin be at Ole Miss? Fair or not, his willingness to bolt for another job will always haunt him since he left Tennessee after 1 season to take the Southern California job. Ole Miss is also a steady program but can it become a regular championship winner like Alabama or even an occasional championship winner like LSU? Either seems like a stretch. If Arch chooses Ole Miss, he’ll always face the challenge of living up to his grandfather and his uncle. Both are beloved by the Ole Miss fan base.

Tennessee

Pros: This could be the safest choice for Arch because Peyton has great insight into the program. If Peyton believes UT coach Josh Heupel is anywhere close to as bad as the Vols’ recent run of head coaches, then Arch will know to go elsewhere. However, The Three Stooges — Derek Dooley, Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt — are gone. As for now, Heupel has his team playing hard, disciplined and showcasing an explosive offense. That’s alluring.

Cons: While Heupel looks like a solid coach, the Vols are still are still 4-4, play Alabama every year and have to overcome Georgia to win the SEC East. That’s no easy feat, which is part of the reason that the Vols have struggled at times to land the coach they most coveted. Signing Arch obviously would be a huge boost for the Vols. However, he’d always be compared to Peyton like he’d be compared to his uncle and grandfather at Ole Miss.

Texas

Pros: Texas will soon be in the SEC, so Arch will still be able to play in the nation’s most respected conference. Longhorn head coach Steve Sarkisian is also known for being one of the better quarterback coaches and offensive coordinators in the nation.

Cons: Hiring Sarkisian seemed like a surefire victory when Texas hired him. Since then, things have gotten a bit bumpy. After a 31-24 loss to Baylor on Saturday, Texas has dropped to 4-4. If Arch wants to play for championships at Texas, he had better hope that Sarkisian turns things around quickly.