Two things are true about Alabama football in 2024: things could have been a lot worse at QB than what Jalen Milroe provided. One needs to only look at the QB performance of Tyler Buchner in the first half against USF in Tampa last season to see that.
The other thing that's true is that QB play is the single biggest reason the Alabama Crimson Tide missed the College Football Playoff and was never a serious contender in 2024. That has to change if Alabama wants to be back among the nation's elite, competing for a national title instead of playing in an also-ran bowl game against a five-loss opponent.
Alabama had a good enough defense to win a championship this season. In fact, Kane Wommack's unit was probably the best defense fielded in Tuscaloosa in several years. Even with a youthful secondary and a myriad of injuries to key players, the Crimson Tide finished the season ranked 10th in the country in yards per play defense.
Alabama was good enough at wide receiver with Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard, as well as several veteran options behind them. The running backs were talented enough. The offensive line wasn't as good as everyone hoped it would be, but everything is made more difficult when your quarterback can't make simple reads and was even quite possibly tipping plays the entire season:
#Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is tipping his plays.
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 2, 2025
🧐🧐🧐pic.twitter.com/yqegiPWZiK
The book was out on how to defend Milroe at the end of last season. Michigan showed the world in the Rose Bowl, and that gameplan was duplicated by smart teams this season. You play two deep safeties to discourage the deep shots that Milroe was so good at hitting in 2023. You then crash six defenders into the line of scrimmage and collapse the pocket to force Milroe to make a quick decision, something that he was never any good at.
Crashing those defenders to the line of scrimmage also neutralized Alabama's running game for most of the season. That's why Alabama had the most success on designed QB runs because the extra blocker being the running back allowed things to open up. A lot of the blame has gone toward the offensive line for the Tide's struggles in the traditional running game, but the limitations at quarterback made that difficult, too.
Jalen Milroe will not be Alabama's starting quarterback in 2025. Whether he goes pro or enters the Transfer Portal is irrelevant to that point. He will not be in Tuscaloosa next season. DeBoer and OC Nick Sheridan have to move on from him and have to identify the quarterback who is going to elevate the offense instead of holding it back.
Whether that guy is on the roster right now or not remains to be seen. Ty Simpson is entering a make or break spring for his career at the Capstone. It will be his fourth season at Alabama and it's now or never for him. Is he good enough to get the job done? I have my doubts, if only because he was never given the opportunity to show it this year despite how poorly Milroe played at times.
If the coaching staff had any thought that the QB competition was close, you have to think Simpson would have seen the field against Oklahoma. Maybe even against Tennessee a few weeks earlier.
If not Simpson, Washington transfer Austin Mack has the physical tools to thrive in DeBoer's system. He's entering his third year of college football, all in the same system, which is a leg up on Simpson. Mack had an impressive touchdown toss to freshman Rico Scott in the second half of the Mercer game this season.
Then, of course, there's 5-star incoming freshman Keelon Russell who might step right in and take over as the starting quarterback. He's that talented. But is DeBoer really willing to put all his eggs in the freshman QB basket next season, knowing how important year two for him will be in Tuscaloosa?
Another eight or nine-win season and he'll be coaching for his job in 2026. Starting a freshman would take a lot of guts. Then again, it took a lot of guts for DeBoer to leave a comfortable job in Seattle to follow the greatest head coach of all time in Tuscaloosa.
DeBoer's feelings about this QB room will be known soon. Once Milroe announces he's leaving, it'll be interesting to see if Alabama is linked to any potential portal quarterbacks. Texas QB Quinn Ewers will probably enter the portal after the Longhorns are finished. Would Alabama show interest in a proven winner at this level? Would they be willing to spend what it would cost to bring him to Alabama?
I suspect Alabama won't add a portal QB. If they were going to do so, they probably would have gotten involved with the first group of signal callers who entered the portal. Washington State's John Mateer or USC's Miller Moss likely would have been nice fits in this system.
One way or another, improved QB is a necessity next season for Alabama to become true contenders again. QB play at the same or even lower level in 2025 will likely lead to even more disastrous results for the Crimson Tide, and put DeBoer squarely on the hot seat.