Reports indicate Austin Mack is pushing for Alabama's starting QB job

The biggest storyline for Alabama football this spring is, predictably, the QB competition. With Jalen Milroe moving on to the NFL, there's a three-way battle to replace him between redshirt junior Ty Simpson, redshirt sophomore Austin Mack, and true freshman Keelon Russell.

Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb have offered praise to all three quarterbacks in spring. At the beginning of spring practice, praise was heaped on Simpson for his ability to improve day-to-day. Entering his fourth year in the program, it's now or never for Simpson and he entered spring as the presumptive starter.

But that doesn't mean the job is going to be handed to him. The numbers in the QB room are small, but the trio competing for the job are all really talented. Mack has the built-in advantage of having two years in the system under his belt after following DeBoer from Washington.

According to a report from On3, Mack has been "turning heads" during spring practice so far and is a serious contender for the starting job:

You can read the full report by Pete Nakos here, but it is behind a paywall and you'll need an On3 subscription in order to read it. We won't comment on anything written inside the article itself, but you can draw a lot of conclusions just from the headline alone.

That kind of headline was undoubtedly eye-catching for Alabama fans who are hyper-focused on the QB competition. Most assumed that Mack was the forgotten third guy in this competition with the real battle between the veteran Simpson and the superstar freshman Russell. Not so fast, my friend, as the great Lee Corso would say.

Why you shouldn't read too much into the Austin Mack reports

I think Mack has a lot of ability and the QB competition is far from decided. He's undoubtedly a contender for the job, but I think most people will take that headline as if he is the leader in the clubhouse. In reality, Alabama will practice on Thursday for just the fifth time this spring. There are no leaders this early.

With just three scholarship players in the room, DeBoer and company can ill-afford a post-spring transfer. This QB battle is going to extend into fall camp and perhaps even into the early part of the regular season. There are going to be positive leaks that come out about all three QBs.

Different reporters will likely report that all three are in the lead at some point. These leaks out of spring practice will be strategic to boost the confidence in all three players that they are all in serious contention for the job.

The majority of the intel out of spring practice will come from leaks as the media viewing portions of practice have been small so far.

It's not earth-shattering news that Mack has supposedly been looking good. He's a talented player who could very well be Alabama's starting QB next season. But it's far too early to tell and both Simpson and Russell are still in the competition and we aren't likely to know for sure who is going to take the first snaps against Florida State in Tallahassee to open the season until August at the earliest.