Subscribe
Follow Us
Alabama football head coach Nick Saban doesn't want to end the team's quarterback competition. He wants one of those in contention to do it for him.
With less than two weeks to go before Alabama's first game, Saban still has not decided who will pilot the offense this season. Or at least, get first crack at the job.
“Like I said in here before. I told the quarterbacks, I said, ‘Quit looking around for me to make a decision about who’s gonna play. How about you playing good enough that I don’t have a choice?” That was Saban's message to the quarterbacks vying for the starting job, per on3.com's Charlie Potter.
Currently, three Alabama football players are in the running to start against Middle Tennessee on September 2. Redshirt sophomore Jalen Milroe knows the system in Alabama's offense, appearing in eight games with one start for Saban in 2022.
Redshirt freshman Ty Simpson played in four games in 2022, mostly in mop-up duty. He has an impressive pedigree, as he was rated the No.3 quarterback from his high school class according to 247Sports Composite.
Perhaps the most intriguing option is Tyler Buchner, a redshirt sophomore who transferred from Notre Dame. He might just have a leg up on the other two options despite being a transfer. That is because Alabama's new offensive coordinator is Tommy Rees, who was Buchner's offensive coordinator at Notre Dame.
As Jalen Hurts can attest, however, Saban is not afraid to ride the hot quarterback's hand. Saban himself acknowledged this in his press conference, telling reporters “Where you all think that whoever we name as a starter the first game, that’s like the end of it. That’s not the end of it, it’s just the beginning.”
In other words, Alabama football's quarterback competition is just getting started.
