Alabama football had been the gold standard for a college athletics program for years, until they were recently overtaken by back-to-back national champions, the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia's overall talent and sheer size makes it impossible to compete with them in terms of physicality, run game, and defense. In order for Alabama to get back to the top of the sport, they'll have to throw the ball all over the field, and they'll need a great quarterback to do it, with Bryce Young out the door. The media knows that, Nick Saban knows that, but he's tired of being asked who the next Alabama quarterback is.

“Look, you're gonna ask me about the quarterbacks every day, and every day I'm gonna tell you the same thing. Everybody's getting reps at the position. Somebody's got to take the bull by the horns. Somebody's got to separate themselves. When that happens, we'll tell you,” Saban said at a press conference.

“Until then, there's nothing to talk about. There's nothing to say, so there's not a whole lot of sense in asking about it.”

The QB1 competition is a three horse race between redshirt sophomore Jalen Milroe, redshirt freshman Ty Simpson, and Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner.

Milroe is a former 4-star recruit and a dual-threat guy with a large frame and great athleticism. He has the most experience with Saban out of the group, but his strength running the ball has overshadowed his ability as a pure pocket passer. That's not necessarily a bad thing, because Milroe is gifted runner, but it might not be the formula for competing with Georgia.

Simpson has a higher upside as a passer than Milroe, and that doesn't mean he isn't mobile either. Simpson was the No. 4 quarterback in the 2022 class. He threw just five passes at Alabama last season and completed four of them.

Buchner's strengths fall somewhere between these two, and as the most dynamic player, he probably has the highest ceiling of the three. He has slightly more experience than Milroe, appearing in 13 games at Notre Dame. Also, his former offensive coordinator in South Bend, Tommy Rees, is now calling plays for Alabama football.

“We want all the guys when they're in there to play the position like it's yours, like it belongs to you,” Nick Saban said. “You're out there competing, you're not looking over your shoulder, you're not worrying about what somebody else does. You're playing like you're the man. And that's what we want each guy to do and see who can do that with the most consistency.”

Over the past two seasons, Georgia lost one game to Alabama in the 2021 SEC championship game. They also narrowly escaped Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinals eight months ago. Nobody else has been close. The common denominator of those Alabama and Ohio State teams was a ridiculously explosive passing game.

You're not going to beat Georgia at their brand of football; it just can't be done. When Alabama beat Georgia, Bryce Young threw for 421 yards and three touchdowns on 44 attempts. When Ohio State came up short with a missed game-winning field goal, C.J. Stroud threw for 384 yards and four touchdowns. That's the passing production required to beat Georgia.

Which of these three young quarterbacks will step up and prove he can put that product on the field for Alabama football? Apparently, Nick Saban will share that answer when there is one.