Fall camp starts today, and Alabama's QB competition can commence. As much as it can in a competition that is widely expected to be won by redshirt junior Ty Simpson, who held the lead for the starting job at the end of spring practice and the summer has only further hammered home that point.
That doesn't mean it's going to be handed to him, though. If it were, Kalen DeBoer would have already officially named a starter. There's a reason he hasn't, long after the Transfer Portal closed until December.
Redshirt sophomore Austin Mack and true freshman Keelon Russell will push for the starting job in fall camp. They will need to be exceptional, or Simpson will need to falter, to have a legitimate shot at unseating the veteran signal-caller.
But regardless of who is the starting QB this season, their leash is likely to be much shorter than the one afforded to Jalen Milroe a year ago.
Ty Simpson must be ready to play at a high level quickly
ESPN's Bill Connelly wrote in his SEC preview of the importance of Simpson, his presumed starter, to be ready by the end of September when the Crimson Tide travels to Athens to face off against Georgia:
"Georgia shows up on the schedule by the end of September. Simpso has to not only be ready but ready quickly. That's not how things always work," Connelly writes.
Georgia is the most treacherous game on the Crimson Tide's September schedule, but Simpson - or Mack or Russell - won't be gifted many cupcakes to sort out the kinks, either. Alabama opens the season against Florida State on the road. Though the Seminoles went just 2-10 a year ago, they are still a Power Four conference opponent, and one that has considerable talent on both sides of the football. That the game will be played in Tallahassee only serves to make Alabama's task that much more challenging.
Alabama gets an easier game at home the week after against Louisiana Monroe, but follows that up with another Power Four opponent. Wisconsin will make the return trip to Tuscaloosa on September 13th, a year after Alabama blasted the Badgers in Camp Randall. Wisconsin went just 5-7 last year, but will bring a talented football team to Bryant-Denny that is motivated to bring pride back to Madison after some lean years.
The good news is that whoever starts at QB will be nice and battle-tested in September. The bad news is that there's no real time to just learn on the job.
We'll learn who the guy is in the first few weeks of the season, regardless of whether it's the same guy who takes the first snap in Doak Campbell at the end of August.