Pitt Football
Top 10 Quarterback? National Perception of Pitt QB Eli Holstein Rising
It certainly doesn’t look like Eli Holstein has only played three games in his college career.
Holstein — a 6-foot-4, 225-pound redshirt freshman from Zachary, Louis. — arrived at Pitt over the winter after spending his first collegiate season at Alabama. It took some work throughout the offseason, but he won a quarterback competition against Nate Yarnell and hasn’t looked back through three games.
He’s coming off a monumental come-from-behind win against West Virginia in the 107th Backyard Brawl, and it’s definitely one of the biggest games of his short career in Pittsburgh.
“I mean, the fact that I’ve only played three games in my career, I would assume so,” Holstein said Wednesday after practice. “It’s a big comeback on the road and a big comeback in a rivalry game, which was a lot of fun. I treat every game like the biggest game I’ve played. The next game’s the biggest game of my career.”
Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Eli Holstein (10) September 14, 2024. Michael Longo/PSN
The biggest game of Holstein’s career — right now — is a matchup against Youngstown State this weekend at Acrisure Stadium. And he’s entering the matchup with top 10 hype from some national outlets.
Clint Brewster of 247Sports has Holstein at No. 12 in his Quarterback Power Rankings, ranked as the second-best quarterback in the ACC.
Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports has Holstein at No. 6 in his Quarterback Power Rankings, ranked again as the second-best quarterback in the ACC. He wrote about Holstein:
| Where did this come from? I don’t know many people with high expectations for Holstein coming into the year, but he led Pitt back from a double-digit, fourth-quarter deficit for the second straight week as the Panthers beat West Virginia 38-34. Holstein ranks ninth nationally in yards per game and is tied for fourth with nine passing touchdowns. (LW: NR) |
Holstein completed 21-of-30 pass attempts (70%) for 301 yards and three touchdowns — and led the Panthers with 59 hard-earned yards on the ground. But if you ask Holstein, he should yardage on the ground. He lost just about 30 yards on the ground to sacks.
It was an incredible Backyard Brawl debut for Holstein, who again was making just his third collegiate start, and he gave a lot of credit to his teammates and coaches.
“I got a lot of people that trust me and believed in me since I got here,” Holstein said after the game. “They talked about how much trust and belief that they have in me, that I’m going to be able to go out there and make the plays I need to make. They put me in a position to make those plays and I just gotta trust myself that I’m going to make those plays.”
Through three games this season, Holstein has completed 71-of-105 pass attempts (68%) for 939 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions, adding 96 additional yards on the ground.
He’s tied for third in the ACC in completions, third in passing yards and tied for second in passing touchdowns. He’s ninth in passing yards and tied for fourth in passing touchdowns nationally.
Sooooo, if he transferred after the season would he be eligible to play?
Yes. He would be eligible if he enters the portal and does so within the allocated time. I am sure that is what he is thinking right now… where can I play next year? lol. If he leaves Kade Bell will go back in the portal and find a great replacement. His offense is one that skill players want to play in. Check out the numbers they are piling up this year.
Just thinking that he can get 10X as much at other schools. I fear this is our future if we can’t compete in the NIL world. This will be interesting.
See, I did that without going into my imagination, and rudely mocking you from that imaginary point. Give it a try.
I was not mocking you. I just laughed at being 3 games into a season and we talking about player transfers instead of just enjoying 3-0 and the season up to this point. I get the whole NIL thing. That is why they are hiring a new AD. I also believe good players will want to play in that offense and other opportunities will exist to bring in good players.
Fair enough. I think we are going to lose most of our best young players to $$$. Eli has something great going here, it will be fascinating to see how this plays out.
Why take a few NIL bucks now, when a good NFL QB makes 50x what NIL pays out? If he’s as good as what they say, he will make a lot more in the NFL than NIL money now, and stay in a system he knows.
H2P!!!
Agreed. And he’s 20. This will be interesting
..and compete with 4 and 5 star recruits…or stay at pitt, stay the starter…and make bank in the nfl. Is he playing the short, or long game? We’ll see…
Not gonna say this didn’t cross my mind, but Pitt will have no other “Top 10” possible draft picks on their roster next year so they can invest a lot of available NIL money in him. Plus next year is his 3rd year so he’ll be draft eligible. I don’t see him making that type of business decision for a slightly bigger one year payday. He’ll be year 2 in an offense he’s mastered and already receiving the necessary draft hype to go high. If he left it would probably be for a chance at the Natty or because the… Read more »
Yep, buuuttttt, the long term move isn’t usually the path taken by 20 year olds. Also Pitts avg NIL is $22k, OSU is $204k. That’s not slightly, especially to a 20 year old.
It is when in 7 months after that check clears he’ll have millions over 5 years. Keep in mind that’s an average. Pretty sure starting QB at Pitt with a national profile will pull 6 figures. I’m not saying 95% of players wouldn’t. Just saying Holstein is in a little more unique spot when/ if that time comes.
Yeah this would be easier to read if we knew what indovidual players were getting.
What the hell is “ Louis.”?
He’s from Louisiana. LA.
C’mon man.
Got to keep this guy happy in Pittsburgh. We are very happy to have him.