What are we even doing here?
Before he has even taken a snap at Alabama, star freshman Keelon Russell has been predicted to transfer by a prominent member of college football media. Paul Finebaum has been far too complimentary of Alabama football and Kalen DeBoer recently, so he had to stir some dissension with a ridiculous take.
On Friday, Finebaum was asked what he thought Russell would do if he didn't play this season. Finebaum confidently answered that he would transfer - "That's an easy one to answer," Finebaum said.
Let's get something straight: I am not saying that there is a 0% chance that Russell will stay at Alabama until he moves on to the NFL. In this era of the Transfer Portal and unlimited free agency across college sports, I would not confidently say that about any single player.
But predicting that Russell is going to transfer if he doesn't play this season - before the season has even started, no less - is a ridiculous narrative web to weave.
It was inevitable, of course. As soon as Ty Simpson won the starting QB job, the clock began ticking on Transfer Portal narratives popping up for Russell, along with redshirt sophomore Austin Mack.
Keelon Russell's future at Alabama is not dependent on his playing time as a freshman
All indications are that Russell is progressing nicely, but at the end of the day, he's a true freshman who has only been on campus for seven months. As talented as he is, it was always going to take some time before he was ready to play. He knew that. The coaching staff knew that. He came to Tuscaloosa with the understanding that the QB battle was almost certainly going to play out the way it did.
In a perfect world, Simpson has an excellent season and leads Alabama to considerable success. He parlays that season into an early entry into the 2026 NFL Draft, opening the door for Russell to take over the starting job next season and beyond.
Where it will get interesting is if Simpson has a good year, Alabama makes the playoff, but he decides to return for his redshirt season. Would Russell be willing to sit on the bench for another season? He's the only one who knows the answer to that question. That exact path has certainly worked out for Arch Manning at Texas, who has turned minimal snaps at the college level into unprecedented hype as he heads into his first season as the starter in Austin.
Everyone's path is different. What Russell will choose to do is unknown, but it's certainly far too early to speculate on it with zero inside information. And that's all Finebaum is doing. That, and filling air time on the radio with two weeks before the actual games start.