Alabama Football: Ranking Alabama starting quarterbacks under Nick Saban
By Ronald Moody
Alabama Football and Quarterback Legends
Legendary Alabama football quarterbacks Bart Starr, Joe Namath, Kenny Stabler, Jay Barker, Freddie Kitchens, and Brodie Croyle are national and local icons. Be that as it may, it was a difficult task for the quarterbacks listed below to measure up to these folk heroes. In fact, all lived up to the hype.
Alabama football coach Nick Saban has emphasized quarterbacks that can manage a game by driving the offense successfully down the field without making turnovers. As college football has continued to embrace no-huddle, run-pass option concepts, and athletic quarterbacks, Saban has evolved with the changes.
Listed below are the starting quarterbacks under Nick Saban during his time at Alabama. This list excludes Cooper Bateman and Blake Barnett, who started a game apiece.
Criteria for the rankings are based on wins, statistics, leadership, and national titles.
No. 8 – John Parker Wilson
The famed Hoover High School quarterback landed at Alabama after being named the 2003 Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year. He started in coach Mike Shula’s final season. John Parker Wilson was the starting quarterback during Nick Saban’s first two seasons in 2007 and 2008 and set several single-season school records.
In his junior season, he was 255 of 462 for 2,846 yards with 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions as Alabama finished 7-6 during Saban’s inaugural season. The following year, Wilson led the team to a 12-2 record with losses against eventual national champion Florida Gators and Utah. The senior quarterback was 187 of 323 for 2,273 yards with ten touchdowns and eight interceptions.
John Parker Wilson departed Alabama football with 665 completions for 7,924 yards. J. P. is No. 2 in the Alabama football records book for passing completions in a single season with 255. His 665 career completions also places him as No. 2 behind A.J. McCarron.