This is the first time in what feels like forever that the Alabama Crimson Tide don’t have an immediate and obvious successor in their QB room. The only positive is that Bill O’Brien is finally out as OC, which was one of the major complaints of the Alabama football fans. They hired a young up and coming OC in Tommy Rees from Notre Dame. The starting QB battle just got a whole lot more interesting though as one of Tommy Rees’ hand picked and recruited players follows him to Bama via the portal.

Here are Bama’s candidates:

• Junior Tyler Buchner- C/O 2021 4 Star
• Redshirt Sophomore Jalen Milroe- C/O 2021 4 Star
• Redshirt Freshman Ty Simpson- C/O 2022 5 Star
• Freshman Dylan Lonergan- C/O 2023 4 Star
• Freshman Eli Holstein- C/O 2023 4 Star

The Case for Tyler Buchner 

Buchner just threw a MASSIVE wrench into Coach Saban and Coach Rees’ decision on the starting QB duties in Tuscaloosa. The craziest part of it all is that Buchner missed all of Alabama spring ball because he was still at Notre Dame. It wasn’t until three days after their spring game that he entered the portal and a couple days after that he committed to Bama. Many speculated that Buchner was going to transfer when Hartman went to South Bend, but it seems as though Buchner wanted to fight for his spot. Despite missing valuable time, Buchner in our opinion is still probably ahead of everyone in the Bama QB room since he already knows Rees’ system. Although has a lot to prove this summer and a lot of chemistry to build with his new weapons. 

The Case for Jalen Milroe

Jalen Milroe is a guy we’ve been hearing about since he came out of HS. He was talked up a ton due to his crazy physique. Milroe has been the primary backup to Bryce Young over the last couple of seasons. It seemed for a while that he was the heir apparent for Bama’s coveted QB spot that has sent 4 (if you count Jalen Hurts) starting NFL QBs to the NFL from 2020-2022. However, the more recent reports make it sound like Milroe isn’t progressing or looking the way they had hoped. In our opinion it kind of feels like the Jalen Hurts situation. We mean it in the sense that Milroe could start for Bama, and rely heavily on his legs and running ability to win games with a strong backfield behind him, while not being developed strongly as a passer. A mix of one of Bama’s weaker WR rooms in recent memory, and Milroe’s under-developed passing ability could find Milroe getting benched in favor of one of the other QBs in the room in December/January. 

The Case for Ty Simpson

Simpson is the only 5 Star in the room, and someone we’ve heard some buzz around heading into spring ball. He was talked about as a candidate who could sneakily take the job from Milroe. Simpson only appeared in 3 games(Utah State, Vanderbilt, and Austin Peay) last year as the QB 3. He was 4/5 for 35 yards. Ty Simpson did get hurt at the Alabama spring game though. He is somewhat of an unknown and could be the sleeper that ends up replacing Bryce Young around the halfway mark.

The case for Freshman Dylan Lonergan and Eli Holstein

Either of these two should be considered in this race as well. These were the QB16 and QB12 respectively, and we’ve heard good things about them. We don’t watch HS players while they are in HS, so it is hard to speak about where we think they stand in the competition from a “ready to play” standpoint. However, if anything goes wrong with the other three candidates one of these freshmen could be forced into action.

Our Prediction

Overall, is this really a 5 QB competition? Probably not. Saban and the Tide probably want to redshirt the freshmen if possible. So what are we looking at in Tuscaloosa? It appears to be a legit 3 QB competition as we head into the summer. Based on what we’ve heard and the fact that they brought in a portal QB probably means the Milroe/Simpson competition was underwhelming. It is also really interesting to note that Alabama does not ever bring in portal QBs. They rely on their recruits who are willing to compete and wait their turn for a crack at the starting QB position. With that being said we believe that Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner is going to take the reins of the Crimson Tide’s offense. The sheer fact that Saban and co. looked at the portal means they are looking for an answer that can bring them back into the CFB Playoffs. Yes, Buchner missed Bama spring ball, but he was hand picked and recruited by Tommy Rees. He knows the system and started in it last year before getting hurt. Milroe and Simpson will have to battle it out for QB2 duties, which could be more important than at other schools with Buchner coming off an injury that kept him out most of last season. They could see field time if Buchner were to get hurt again.