Poll: Who is your starting and Back-up QB for the 2025 season?

[gtgilbert]

I hope you are correct.

I thought we were in trouble when Mac Jones became the starter...but that turned out quite well for us.

I was firmly in the camp that Mac was just keeping the seat warm until BY was fully ramped up to the playbook and college competition. Missed on that one by a mile.

 

[22Musso22]

FIRST LOOK AT KEELON RUSSELL - WOW | Alabama football spring practice footage

FIRST LOOK AT KEELON RUSSELL - WOW | Alabama football spring practice footage Fan Fund Kyle Henderson and Bama Football on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/ch...

www.youtube.com

 

[Ledsteplin]

Hardly earth shattering information here and it sounds like this is based on only 1 practice but figured I'd share anyway. This is from an ON3 article that is members only link



To me it sounds like Ty is still the leader and Mack had a nice day which may or may not mean anything

I think it was CBS Sports, who said Alabama has the best quarterback room in college football.

 

[AlexanderFan]

I want whoever has enough of the concepts down to get the ball to the open guy. Williams, Bernard, Brooks, and Horton. Someone will be open, and if it doesn’t look like it, he needs to get into a running play.

 

[colbysullivan]

Hardly earth shattering information here and it sounds like this is based on only 1 practice but figured I'd share anyway. This is from an ON3 article that is members only link



To me it sounds like Ty is still the leader and Mack had a nice day which may or may not mean anything

“Ty Simpson is very much in the mix” is a ridiculous understatement...

 

[Bama Lee]

FIRST LOOK AT KEELON RUSSELL - WOW | Alabama football spring practice footage

FIRST LOOK AT KEELON RUSSELL - WOW | Alabama football spring practice footage Fan Fund Kyle Henderson and Bama Football on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/ch...

www.youtube.com

Video really doesn’t show anything

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Video really doesn’t show anything

I'm still waiting on the "WOW". Couldn't find it in the video.

 

[PA Tide Fan]

I think it will be Ty Simpson. The media likes to speculate it will be someone else but my interpretation of DeBoer's remarks about the QB's during spring camp lead me to believe it will be Simpson.

 

[Ledsteplin]

I think it will be Ty Simpson. The media likes to speculate it will be someone else but my interpretation of DeBoer's remarks about the QB's during spring camp lead me to believe it will be Simpson.

I think it will be. We tend to forget Ty was a 5* out of high school. His issues was not for lack of talent. Whatever it was, seems to be gone. He looks great.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

I think it will be Ty because of his experience and I think he is less likely to be careless with the ball at this juncture.

 

[AlexanderFan]

I'm still waiting on the "WOW". Couldn't find it in the video.

I’ve seen some other videos and he has a “live arm” for sure.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I’ve seen some other videos and he has a “live arm” for sure.

Oh I know, I've watched tape of him. I was just poking some fun at the title of the video. It said Keelone Russell "WOW", yet it only showed one pass from Russell and it was a pass I could make at 49 years old. LOL! It's the offseason!!! LOL!

 

[bamaslammer]

The thing with Ty was that from statements made by coaches early on it was not talent that was holding him back but rather his ability to manage the up and down emotions of the game. That's certainly not uncommon with many players when they are young but if the years have added maturity, which they usually do then this may be his time. But... if you want to play for a consistent top 10 team ** you're always going to have to beat out some really good players to play QB.

** Alabama was not a top 10 team during the transition year but I believe will return to that level in 2025 and remain at that level.

 

[colbysullivan]

The thing with Ty was that from statements made by coaches early on it was not talent that was holding him back but rather his ability to manage the up and down emotions of the game. That's certainly not uncommon with many players when they are young but if the years have added maturity, which they usually do then this may be his time. But... if you want to play for a consistent top 10 team ** you're always going to have to beat out some really good players to play QB.

** Alabama was not a top 10 team during the transition year but I believe will return to that level in 2025 and remain at that level.

The coaches simply cannot know that to be true if they never give him a fair chance to play in real games. Some players are just gamers. Was Ty a gamer in 2023 or 2024? We'll never know.

 

[bamaslammer]

The coaches simply cannot know that to be true if they never give him a fair chance to play in real games. Some players are just gamers. Was Ty a gamer in 2023 or 2024? We'll never know.

I agree that you can't know how a guy is going to perform under fire without putting them out there when it counts. I've seen it go both ways. Shawn Alexander for instance was "apparently" a terrible practice player and spent maybe 4 seasons between college and pro mostly sitting the bench but every time he got in there he blew up and when the coaches finally figured it out he was playing at an All-America and then an All-Pro level. I've also seen guys who lit it up every spring only to disappear when the other colored jerseys showed up.

 

[bamaslammer]

I might also add that without question I would have benched Milro last year when his play started nose diving, thus giving Ty a chance. Getting benched was in my humble opinion the best thing that happened to Jaylen Hurts and it reset something in him, when he came back in he was different and that arc continued until we saw him scull drag the Chiefs defense in the superbowl. I can say the same about Andrew Zow and Tyler Watts as both were benched for the other at times and they both came back better afterwards. Having personal setbacks is not a bad thing if you use the experience to become a better person or player.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

The coaches simply cannot know that to be true if they never give him a fair chance to play in real games. Some players are just gamers. Was Ty a gamer in 2023 or 2024? We'll never know.

Here's the problem a coach runs into. Ty was showing those blindspots in scrimmages as well. Yes, there were scrimmages he did very well and even outperformed Milroe. But he also showed enough of his blindspots that didn't give the staff enough confidence to put him above Milroe. Again, what tilted the scales for Milroe was his ability to throw the deep ball and his speed. If you take just one of those things away and Simpson probably gets a much, much closer look at being the starter last season.

Some players don't look great in practice but for whatever reason ball out in the games. Those type of players are the hardest for coaches to evaluate because it is in practice where players earn their playing time. I've run into the same problem with baseball. I had players over the years that simply weren't practice players and it took me half a season (and the starter struggling) before I figured out he should have been starting the entire time. It's not an easy decision for coaches when what they see in practice doesn't translate to the game, especially when it is a player who may not look great in practice but can ball out in games.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Here's the problem a coach runs into. Ty was showing those blindspots in scrimmages as well. Yes, there were scrimmages he did very well and even outperformed Milroe. But he also showed enough of his blindspots that didn't give the staff enough confidence to put him above Milroe. Again, what tilted the scales for Milroe was his ability to throw the deep ball and his speed. If you take just one of those things away and Simpson probably gets a much, much closer look at being the starter last season.

Some players don't look great in practice but for whatever reason ball out in the games. Those type of players are the hardest for coaches to evaluate because it is in practice where players earn their playing time. I've run into the same problem with baseball. I had players over the years that simply weren't practice players and it took me half a season (and the starter struggling) before I figured out he should have been starting the entire time. It's not an easy decision for coaches when what they see in practice doesn't translate to the game, especially when it is a player who may not look great in practice but can ball out in games.

Over the years, I've heard a lot of conversation on that trait -- not a good practice player, but an outstanding gamer. Sounds like great material for a psychological study.

 

[colbysullivan]

Here's the problem a coach runs into. Ty was showing those blindspots in scrimmages as well. Yes, there were scrimmages he did very well and even outperformed Milroe. But he also showed enough of his blindspots that didn't give the staff enough confidence to put him above Milroe. Again, what tilted the scales for Milroe was his ability to throw the deep ball and his speed. If you take just one of those things away and Simpson probably gets a much, much closer look at being the starter last season.

Some players don't look great in practice but for whatever reason ball out in the games. Those type of players are the hardest for coaches to evaluate because it is in practice where players earn their playing time. I've run into the same problem with baseball. I had players over the years that simply weren't practice players and it took me half a season (and the starter struggling) before I figured out he should have been starting the entire time. It's not an easy decision for coaches when what they see in practice doesn't translate to the game, especially when it is a player who may not look great in practice but can ball out in games.

IMO Ty showed enough against USF in 2023 to earn the start against Ole Miss the next week. We were in danger of losing that game, and Ty WON it for us. Would we have beaten Ole Miss with Ty? Again, we'll never know.

 

[colbysullivan]

Over the years, I've heard a lot of conversation on that trait -- not a good practice player, but an outstanding gamer. Sounds like great material for a psychological study.

I mean, it's not really uncommon to be honest. A ton of players look at practice exactly for what it is. I'll put it this way: practice matters, but games COUNT.