Alabama football is losing a quarterback, as 5-star recruit Blake Barnett is reportedly transferring to another school.
According to AL.com, Quarterback Blake Barnett has decided to transfer and has left the Alabama football program.
Barnett, a redshirt freshman from California, started at QB for the Crimson Tide’s season opener against the USC Trojans. After the second series, he was pulled in favor of true freshman Jalen Hurts.
Since that game, Barnett has seen time here and there on the field in three out of the four Alabama games this season, with Hurts getting all of the starts since that first series against USC.
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With the transfer, he leaves Alabama with an 11 for 19 pass completion record, 219 yards and two touchdowns. Barnett did not play in the Ole Miss game.
Barnett was a highly-coveted 5-star recruit out of Corona, CA at Santiago High School. Rivals ranked him 2nd among QBs and 41st overall among all athletes in the 2015 class. He was known more for his pro-style skills, which offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin coveted for his system.
With the transfer, it is likely that QB Cooper Bateman will move to the backup role in the depth chart. It it unknown at this time to where Barnett will be transferring.
The timing of this transfer seems very odd, heading into just Week 5 of his redshirt freshman season. However, in the enviornment that is created under Nick Saban and his staff, along with the success it’s seen, it is very competitive at every position.
Trying to get the starting slot against highly-talented teammates can result in missing the cut. Blake may just not appreciate having to play backup to a true freshman.
Former Alabama safety Will Lowery had some strong words and took to Twitter to express his discontent:
What a joke. 4 games into the season?? I mean you gotta have ZERO respect and sense of accountability to your TEAMmates. Selfish as it gets. https://t.co/yhyxY4sijA
— Will Lowery (@jwlowery29) September 28, 2016
You WERE still the backup QB, that's a very important role on the team. The sense of entitlement some kids have these days is mind boggling.
— Will Lowery (@jwlowery29) September 28, 2016
Some on Twitter have suggested that Blake is transferring eventually to LSU because they believe LSU has already decided to offer Lane Kiffin – who was Barnett’s primary recruiter – the head coach position.
Next: Nick Saban Discusses Les Miles, Freshmen Players
Check back as we will have follow-ups to this story, as well as reactions to where Barnett may transfer and what this means for the depth chart moving forward.