I agree with your theory as a possible scenario, though don’t count out the uniparty bosses will decide once Trump is out ... and as stoopid as they are ... they could pick someone from the current slate.
From my keyboard, that’s how DeSantis should have played it ... stay in the headlines but out of the race.
The problem is, that the current candidates have all burned their bridges with Trump supporters.
DeSantis should have stayed out of the fray. But I’m convinced the folks that told him to run didn’t have his best interests in mind, because they despise him every bit as much as they do Trump, but they figured they could kill two birds with one stone.