Alabama Football: Like It Or Not, Jalen Hurts Is Your Quarterback

A lot of Alabama fans seem to question Jalen Hurts’ ability to quarterback Alabama football to a championship. Like it or not, Hurts is the quarterback.

Hurts is not in jeopardy of losing his job this season as many fans would like you to think. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a quarterback with a 93% winning percentage scrutinized by his own fan base as much as Hurts is.

Jalen certainly has room for improvement and he’ll be the first to tell you that. That’s what leaders do. Leaders don’t pass the blame on to someone else. Leaders don’t talk about the dropped balls or the less than average pass protection at times. They place the blame squarely on their own shoulders. And that’s what Jalen Hurts is: a leader.

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Crimson Tide running back Damien Harris spoke on those leadership qualities back in September. I’m not sure anyone is respected in the locker room more than Jalen.

He can’t throw the dang ball!

Crimson Tide fans want to talk about Jalen’s accuracy, and at times they have a right to do so. Consistency isn’t always there, but neither is his pass protection. Factored into Jalen’s 61% passing percentage is the three to four times a game he’s immediately flushed from the pocket and throws the ball away.

Factor in another two or three drops here and there and a 12-21 night could’ve easily been 15-18.

Here’s what Jalen doesn’t do: He doesn’t throw interceptions.

Hurts has ONE interception this season in 224 passing attempts. He doesn’t put his defense in a bad situation by giving the other team the ball on Alabama football’s side of the field.

That’s also another key trait of a leader. Leader’s do not shoot themselves in the foot.

Why does Hurts just stare down one wide receiver and then take off running?

My question would be why didn’t Hurts have more than half a second to survey the field before being pressured?

While the offensive line is a nasty bunch at run blocking, it’s no secret they struggle in pass protection. It’s the offensive coordinator’s job to slow down that defensive pressure, and Daboll hasn’t done a great job of that this year.

How many slants have you seen Alabama football throw? What is the number of  wide receiver screens you’ve seen them thrown? Have we even thrown a running back screen all season?

My answer to those questions would be that the Crimson Tide need to throw more. Get Jalen in a rhythm and then see if he can hits some passes 20+ yards down the field.

Put in Tua!!!

Yeah, let’s put in a quarterback who has played mop up duty in seven games and has 53 total passing attempts. Go ahead and throw him to the wolves against one of the best defensive lines that Alabama football has played all season.

I’m not taking away anything from Tua. He will be a great quarterback for the Crimson Tide when his time comes. But you’re crazy if you think that time is now.

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I think sometimes fans forget that Jalen is only 19 years old. Maybe fans forget that Jalen is going through his second offensive coordinator in as many seasons. Perhaps they forget Jalen has led his team to the College Football Playoffs in consecutive seasons. Most of all, I think fans forget Jalen Hurts is the key to Alabama winning their 17th national championship.

You may disagree now, but we’ll see who’s right when the Crimson Tide takes on Clemson in the rubber match on New Years Day. Roll Tide, y’all.