Alabama’s biggest question mark going into the upcoming football season is at the quarterback position.
Earlier this week, the Crimson Tide named redshirt sophomore Ty Simpson as the frontrunner, but the battle is far from over, with redshirt sophomore Austin Mack and true freshman Keelon Russell still competing with him for the starting role.
Choosing the right player to lead the offense can be a stressful situation for a head coach, as it can make or break your season, and in some cases, cost you your job. Instead of stressing over the position, Kalen DeBoer is enjoying watching his trio of quarterbacks compete and grow as players and people.
“It’s fun when you have guys of the quality, both as a player and especially as people that we have with Ty, Austin and Keelon,” DeBoer said during a Friday interview with “The Next Round.” “These guys are fun because they’re going to develop. They’ve got their best football ahead of them for sure, and you’re trying to help them reach that potential. But you also got just really, I don’t want to call them kids, but great people. They’re a pleasure to be around, whether it's on the football field, in the hallways, cafeteria, popping up in your office, and of course, in the meeting rooms and everything that’s associated with the team. It’s fun seeing these guys grow, and it’s a healthy competition because they’re character is elite. And they’ve done a good job. Ty, he’s the one that’s the elder statesman here as far as experience in the program. But the others have done a great job of pushing him.”
The quarterback room for Alabama isn’t lacking talent, but the lack of depth has DeBoer concerned. Last year, the Crimson Tide had the luxury of rostering four scholarship quarterbacks. This season, DeBoer is down to just three with Jalen Milroe headed to the NFL Draft and Dylan Lonergan transferring to Boston College.
“It’s really scary,” DeBoer said. “I’m scared, too. We had four last year. That was a luxury. The year before, and the previous two years before that, at Washington, we had three on scholarship. I’ve had three more times than I haven’t. Having four, you felt really good because I felt really good about the quality of those guys and what they were doing in their development. But the defense has never heard stay away from the quarterback more than they have this spring. And that will continue on because we just can’t have that risk, especially with these guys competing. They need to take all their reps. They’ve got to get that experience, and everything matters.”
Amid the quarterback battle, DeBoer will have his hands full attempting to keep his three scholarship quarterbacks at the University of Alabama and not taking off to another university.
The spring portal window opened on Wednesday and closes on April 25. As of now, DeBoer has done a pretty good job considering there has been no indication that any of the quarterbacks have any intention of leaving despite Simpson being named the frontrunner earlier this week.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
