Ranking Alabama football starting quarterbacks under Nick Saban
By Ronald Moody
Alabama Football No. 1 – Tua Tagovailoa
Tua Tagovailoa’s Alabama football story is extraordinary despite being far from fully written. He is the only non-starter on our list. Nonetheless, his reputation is already cemented in the hearts of Alabama football fans.
The 2017 ESPN five-star number one ranked dual-threat quarterback did not disappoint on college football’s biggest stage. Fans were only given a small sample size of his skills in the national championship game.
It was clear that he is Nick Saban’s most talented quarterback with pure arm talent and pinpoint accuracy. In a pressure-packed environment, he displayed immense poise after being sacked on the Tide’s first play of overtime. After receiving an earful from Saban, the lefty calmly launched the loveliest pass to the back corner of the end zone to a wide-open Devonta Smith for the thrilling victory.
Playing mostly in a mop-up role, the Hawaiian native finished the season with a 63.6% completion rate for 636 yards and 11 touchdowns. The six-foot-one quarterback displayed several times the pocket presence to escape defenders to make plays on the run. In summary, Tua will leave Alabama as a bigger legend than Bart Starr, “Broadway” Joe Namath and Kenny “The Snake” Stabler.
Next: 10 Tide Football Records that will never be broken
In fairness to Jalen Hurts, his Alabama football career is not over. Most Tide fans are in Tua-frenzy, but Jalen could surprise and lead Alabama football to more glory. If he does, we may have to revise our ranking.