Former Georgia QB Carson Beck was one of the most high-profile entries into the NCAA's Transfer Portal this winter. Beck initially declared for the NFL Draft, but ultimately decided to enter the portal instead, and within 24 hours of doing so, Beck had committed to play for Miami.
But, according to a report from USA Today's Matt Hayes, Alabama was in contact with Beck once he entered the portal.
"A person close to Beck's decision making, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the process, told USA Today Sports that not only was Georgia at the front of the line for Beck - but SEC heavyweight Alabama was next to call."Matt Hayes
It is not outright shocking to see that Alabama may have shown interest in the talented Bulldogs transfer. Beck is a good fit for Kalen DeBoer's offense and was a projected first round pick coming into this season before struggling with turnovers and an elbow injury he suffered in the SEC Championship Game.
But it is the first time this offseason that the Crimson Tide has been linked to a quarterback out of the portal. Maybe they've done a good job of keeping others quiet, but Alabama's interest in Beck is confusing and concerning on a couple of fronts.
Alabama showing interest in Beck speaks to the lack of confidence the coaching staff has in Ty Simpson and the 2025 QB room in general. There's plenty of excitement surrounding 5-star freshman Keelon Russell, but relying on a true freshman at QB is risky business. Particularly in a year that is so important for DeBoer and the direction of the program.
Simpson is entering his fourth year in the program and is a former highly ranked recruit in his own right. But Simpson could never get on the field the last couple of years despite a lot of struggles from Jalen Milroe.
In fact, Alabama was so concerned about its QB room in 2023 that Nick Saban and OC Tommy Rees took a transfer from Notre Dame in Tyler Buchner. Buchner started over Milroe and Simpson in a near-disaster of a game against USF. Simpson came off the bench and played okay in relief and Buchner transferred back to Notre Dame after the season concluded.
It doesn't surprise me that DeBoer and company may not have the most confidence in Simpson, but why wait until now to try and target a QB? There were plenty of talented signal-callers in the Transfer Portal this cycle that could have constituted an upgrade for the Crimson Tide.
Washington State's John Mateer, Cal's Fernando Mendoza, and USC's Miller Moss, among others, seemed like intriguing fits for DeBoer's offense. It is possible Alabama reached out to all three through back channels, but interest was never reported.
Maybe this was just the case of DeBoer seeing Beck as an obvious upgrade due to his pedigree and he was willing to roll the dice on losing Simpson and bringing him in. Beck is a proven SEC QB; those don't grow on trees.
It's possible that DeBoer views Simpson, Austin Mack, or Russell as better options than the rest of the portal QBs in this cycle but did his due diligence on Beck because he is willing to do whatever it takes to upgrade the roster even it means alienating a current player.
That's the optimistic viewpoint. The pessimistic viewpoint is that Alabama is not convinced it will be good enough at QB in 2025 and now has no real opportunity to improve that room with the portal window almost completely closed.
It's also fair to question whether this report is even true or not. Hayes' source is clearly someone from Beck's camp, and Alabama is always a big name for people to throw around. Tons of recruits over the years have had Alabama hats on the table when they announced commitments despite not even holding a real offer from the Crimson Tide.
Alabama will deny they had any contact, as they should regardless of the truth. Alienating Simpson at this point in time serves no good purpose.
But if the contact was truly there, there's plenty of reason for concern.