I disagree. I just think last year situation was weird and I've alluded that the receivers did not handle this situation well... and Credit goes to Locksley for holding them down, but this is new year, new season. Ridley is gone. So no, i'm not taking the " competition" thing too far. The best player will play on the field.. but that doesn't mean Tua is necessary the best player right now.. nor Hurts as well. The compeition is legit and I think both has a chance to show coach that they belong on the field. If everyone feels like Tua won the job, then Jalen would've transferred by now.
Alabama QB competition article
- Thread starter Redwood Forrest
- Start date
I disagree. I just think last year situation was weird and I've alluded that the receivers did not handle this situation well... and Credit goes to Locksley for holding them down, but this is new year, new season. Ridley is gone. So no, i'm not taking the " competition" thing too far. The best player will play on the field.. but that doesn't mean Tua is necessary the best player right now.. nor Hurts as well. The compeition is legit and I think both has a chance to show coach that they belong on the field. If everyone feels like Tua won the job, then Jalen would've transferred by now.
it wasnt just Ridley. it was obvious with foster and the freshman also. even the rbs were visibly frustrated add thru were not getting the handoffs or the checkdown throws they should have been getting either
There will be a competition and there should be one. But surely we are not going to have last November's QB discussion all over again. Our last three games showed who could move the ball and who could go three and out ..... and it showed who could lead the team to a 1-2 record and who could come in "in relief" and win the NC. Surely everyone can see who should be the frontrunner by a county mile.
I am an old fart and have watched football for YEARS, one thing I know for sure , nothing is for sure. I have seen a QB have as great year followed by a bad one. What a guy does this day means nothing tomorrow. NO ONE knows who will be the better QB this yr no one. Tua could light it up or stink it up. Same with Jalen, you just never know how a kid is going to react day to day. I think both will be really good at what they do best, but no way I think one is a lock. We have 2 yrs of Jalen we have a few games on Tua. Still there is no way to say one will be the better QB this yr until they actually play the actual games. Who knows how they both react to this competition.But I cannot wait to see how it all unfolds, hopefully it leads back to the playoffs.
That is a good point. His freshman year when Jalen got blindsided by the Ole Miss defender and coughed up the ball, Jalen got up, dusted himself off and went back to playing. Cool as a cucumber. Unflappable. Tough.
I agree Tua could stink it up because one game does not make a season. But to say Jalen could light it up is daydreaming. In two seasons (against good defenses) I don't think he lit it up. Sure, he won but Jalen is not a light it up passer. So, Tua could not be as good as one game made him look but Jalen is not going to be better than two seasons made him look. Jalen is not suddenly going to discover the forward pass. Well, let me rephrase this:
Jalen is not going to light it up passing downfield against good defenses. He could light it up, I guess, with those little sideline dinks.
Jalen is a team player. If Tua wins out, I'm sure Jalen will feel a bit disappointed, but he'll also be pulling for Tua to do well. Did you notice how excited he was after the winning touchdown pass in the CG? He knows Tua can be really great, and is behind him 100%. You gotta love Jalen! I hope he plays a role in the offense somehow. He's too good not to.
For Hurts to even have a shot at this competition he will have to develop skills that to this point he hasn't displayed. His field vision, pocket awareness, quickness of his release and accuracy are all things he severely lacks in the passing game. Yes, Coach Saban is trying to sell this as a legitimate "competition" to the public and media. But I have no doubt in my mind that for Nick Saban to actually pencil in Jalen Hurts as the starter over Tua. Jalen is going to have to elevate his skills to at least that of Tua. The odds of Tua's skills regressing (as some in this thread are hinting at) are slim to none. I guess we all see things a bit different and that's okay. But the gap between Tua and Jalen is light years apart and I'm not sure how some are rationalizing or trying to suggest that the two are on equal footing. Maybe equal footing with opportunity. But there's no way Jalen has all of a sudden drastically improved his skills in less than two months after barely being able to complete a pass against a top notch SEC defense and Tua has all of a sudden regressed in his skills in the same time period. Coach Saban has set the expectation and standard by declaring he wants to run more pro style concepts like we saw in the second half. Which ever quarterback can run that offense the best will start. Right now Tua has proven that his skills flourish in that type offense and Jalen severely lacks in a lot of the key areas of being a highly successful passing quarterback.
I also think Coach Saban is doing his best to keep both on campus. He's doing a little "politicking" and in my opinion is trying to sell the idea that both have just as good a chance to start as the other. I would agree both have the same and equal opportunity. But to suggest that from a skill set and talent standpoint they are on equal footing is being disingenuous at best. They aren't even close at this point.
Wow, as the leader of the wr core....that was pretty interesting but not shocking at least to me. He also says he loved coach Daboll.
I don't think Jalen would necessarily transfer even if he knew Tua had the job.
I think Coach Saban is just calling this a "competition" to motivate both guys to continue to improve. If he'd name a starter early then one guy might be satisfied with his game and not really look to improve while the other guy might just transfer. I believe the QB decision can be decided by asking one question, "Which guy do you want on the field on 3rd down, especially 3rd and long?" Whoever you want out there on 3rd down is the same guy you want on 1st and 2nd down as well.
What does that even mean?
No one is saying the competition is illegitimate we are just saying that, contrary to what you are implying, Tua is the better player.
Yikes, He was trying pretty hard not to say it outright. Constantly pointing out how he should have had a lot more yards/production.
On Daboll "I love coach Daboll, he does a great job, I mean you gotta deal with what you got"
On the passing game "I felt like we could of did anything...we just had to go with what we had"
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Don't know if you missed it, but I said that in the last sentence of that post.
FWIW, I was also being a little facetious regarding the idea that I'd be OK with Jalen being named starter IF he improved enough to beat out Tua.
If Jalen improved that much he'd become Cam Newton 2.0. Is there a "chance" this could happen? 1 in a Million!
"So you're telling me there's a chance?" :wink:
Yep...agreed , I was just reiterating the point that with all of the emphasis on Enos helping Hurts, he's going to be involved with all of the QBs and if Tua is already ahead in intangibles ....then it only seems natural that he'll improve that much more and that could be scary.
I think you are verging on being in denial regarding how much of a difference there is in Tua and Jalen OR you are reading waaaaay too much into the fact that CNS is walking a fine line in not coming out and publicly stating Tua is the starter/better.
Also, you've implied that many of us think Tua will be the starter based off of one half of football. For the record, I've thought Tua was the better QB going way back into the regular season. And after Jalen's struggles against the tougher defenses near the end the season, many of us were convinced Tua needed to play alot more when the game was still in contention.
And would Jalen stay even if he knew Tua would be the starter? Who knows for sure, but the fact Jalen hasn't said he's thinking of transferring gives us a clue. IMO, Jalen's not going to quit or not try to improve. He's a competitor through and through, but I think he already knows Tua is the better QB.
Yep...agreed , I was just reiterating the point that with all of the emphasis on Enos helping Hurts, he's going to be involved with all of the QBs and if Tua is already ahead in intangibles ....then it only seems natural that he'll improve that much more and that could be scary.
Completely agree that it's scary for opposing defenses.
As good as he was in his spot play last year and then in the NC game, you can tell he's got so much more room for improvement.
What would be the point of Jalen transferring right now even if he does want to? Wouldn't he have to sit out a year either way? So, why not wait until after spring so you still get all the resources you have a a Bama player?
I think its like having two ferraris and having to decide which one you are gonna drive today.....what a tough spot to be in, to quote mel brooks, its good to be king.......roll tide!!!!
You are 100% correct that we don't know what will happen in the future.
That said, if you are as old as you say you are, you know that past performances are about the only way to predict future events. You say you've seen QBs have a great year followed by a poor one. That's true, but it's really rare for someone to have a serious regression if they've shown consistent elite play. Could someone struggle or have a slump? Yeah, happens all the time.
But here's the thing. Tua has only shown the trajectory of improvement, not decline, even though it's obvious he's got some room for improvement. And even if Tua has a "Soph. slump" (which I seriously doubt will happen), his decline would likely still have him outperforming Jalen, even if he improves some.
I believe you've accurately described the situation and status of where Tua and Jalen stand in reguard to playing time/starting.
I also think it cannot be emphasized enough how big a gap there is in their abilities as a drop back passer (and the intangibles that go with it). As you say, it would literally take Tua having a serious regression and Jalen having an unbelievable "awakening" and suddenly becoming something he hasn't previously shown.
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