The biggest weakness of Alabama Football? It’s not Jalen Hurts.

There is growing concern the Alabama football offense may not fare well against upcoming defenses. Fans blaming Jalen Hurts are mistaken.

Ask Alabama football fans which unit of the offense, defense and special teams may derail a 2017 championship run and the offense will almost always be the designated culprit. Pose where to place the blame for Crimson Tide offensive weaknesses and the blame is directed to Brian Daboll, the offensive line and Jalen Hurts.

The ever-expanding litany of concerns can be summarized as “if this offense doesn’t get better, then …” and the then means various disasters from losing to Auburn to losing to Georgia to losing a Playoff game.

There is a reason Jalen Hurts is the most chosen weak link. Nick Saban will not demote Brian Daboll this season (and probably never) and better offensive line options can only come from unproven players, the most talented of whom are true freshmen. The perceived weakness at QB is different because many fans believe the Alabama football offense will perform better via the accurate arm of Tua Tagovailoa.

The mystique of the backup QB is the nearly annual panacea for whatever ails a Crimson Tide offense. Nothing against Tua who appears likely to become an Alabama football star, but all his promise is yet to be fulfilled.

Nick Saban is an old-school coach who has been smart enough to adapt to a changing game. What has not changed with Nick is his desire to execute a balanced offense. And also unchanging for Nick is the fact he views a QB ‘Game Manager’ as an attribute rather than a weakness.

Game Managers and National Championships

For all his athletic ability, Jalen Hurts is a ‘Game Manager’ just as national championship quarterbacks Greg, McElroy, A.J. McCarron and Jake Coker were. Against LSU, Jalen Hurts was not perfect but he was very good. Check out how Jalen’s performance looked from the losing side.

Let’s look at what Jalen did against the best prepared and most intense defense the Tide has faced in 2017.

• 11-24 pass completions for 183 yards and one TD. Good numbers that would have been much better without two drops and one, maybe two non-called pass interference penalties that cost the Tide another TD pass completion.
• Jalen’s average-yards-per-completion was 16.6 yards. Putting that in perspective, the No. 1 QB in the FBS in that stat is Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma. Mayfield is a Heisman front-runner and his average-yards-per-completion is 16.54 yards.
• Hurts was the Tide’s leading rusher against LSU with 71 yards (not net, after sacks.)
• Against LSU, the Tide offense ran 60 plays. Jalen either ran or passed on 42 of those plays with zero turnovers.
• In the Alabama football passing attack, Hurts got the ball to seven different teammates.

Jalen was not perfect. He missed a few passes but he made more very good throws. His thread the needle pass to Cam Sims between four LSU defenders was bo.ld and deft.

He ate the ball a time or two when he should have thrown it away. Perhaps he missed two or three reads. He has learned to be more patient in the pocket this season. There is no argument he is still developing as a passer but he is improved this season.

Tougher defenses ahead?

Even if Auburn and Georgia have better defensive units than LSU, what the Tide needs is more push from the offensive line and better pass protection. Tide tackles were burned on the edge multiple times against LSU.

There may be times in the stretch run when better passing accuracy and a quicker release is a necessity. If that time arrives, then Tua might be a better option or more likely, another option. However, in the interim, this fan will spend more time worrying about defensive injuries and offensive line inconsistencies.

Next: 10 Best Tide QB's of All-Time

In case you missed it, Jalen’s TD run against LSU give him 20 career rushing touchdowns. That number is a new Alabama football record.