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Meeting the Opponent – Week 5: Alabama Crimson Tide

By Evan Ertel

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - SEPTEMBER 23: Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs the team out of the tunnel for warm ups prior to facing the Mississippi Rebels at Bryant-Denny Stadium on September 23, 2023 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - SEPTEMBER 23: Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs the team out of the tunnel for warm ups prior to facing the Mississippi Rebels at Bryant-Denny Stadium on September 23, 2023 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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Jalen Milroe #4 of the Alabama Crimson Tide looks to pass against the Mississippi Rebels
TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA – SEPTEMBER 23: Jalen Milroe #4 of the Alabama Crimson Tide looks to pass against the Mississippi Rebels during the second quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium on September 23, 2023 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

What do you think led to the Alabama QB situation becoming the mess that it is after so many years of having a bona fide guy?

Honestly, I think that some of the last few years was luck.

Like, Tua Tagovailoa was always going to be awesome, as was Bryce Young. But those two guys were not the norm under Nick Saban, to be honest. Nor should they be the norm for any college football program.

Mac Jones was an anomaly. A 3-star recruit who was, to be honest, a disaster at times up until he put everything together as a senior for one miraculous season. And Jalen Hurts gets a lot of revisionist history for his success in the NFL, but he had 5 games in 2016-2017 that were all worse than Alabama’s disaster against USF a couple of weeks ago.

With that said, I think the main issue is that Ty Simpson doesn’t seem to be ready. The second-year guy was a highly touted recruit from a small school, so while we expected he’d need a year to get up to speed, I think he was recruited with the intent of being the guy to take over from Bryce Young. Well, he’s clearly not ready, and now it falls to the older Jalen Milroe.

I think the coaches went into the offseason expecting Simpson to step up and thus didn’t recruit the transfer portal market too hard. And when he didn’t in A-Day, they scrambled a bit and took Tyler Buchner as a depth piece.

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