Somehow, Kalen DeBoer just locked in college football’s best QB room

In hindsight, it seems that Alabama never expected Ty Simpson to be its quarterback beyond 2025. Few would’ve expected him to leave for the NFL as a potential first-round pick, but either way, his departure clears room for 2025 five-star Keelon Russell to take over. That is, if Russell can win what will be college football’s most closely watched quarterback competition this offseason. 

On Friday night, reports surfaced that both Russell, after redshirting his true freshman year in Tuscaloosa, and Austin Mack, who followed Kalen DeBoer from Washington two years ago, are coming back to the Crimson Tide, and suddenly, after losing a potential first-rounder, Alabama has the best QB room in college football. 

Keelon Russell and Austin Mack both expected to return to Alabama

Through his three years of college football, Mack has sat behind Michael Penix Jr. at Washington, Jalen Milroe, and Simpson. He and Russell both lost out to Simpson in a three-way QB battle heading into 2025. Now, heading into his redshirt junior season, he’s risking another year on the sidelines to stay with DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. Russell is putting the same thing on the line. 

Not every five-star quarterback immediately walks into a starting job as Bryce Underwood, the only player ranked higher than Russell in the 2025 class, did at Michigan this season. However, few sit for more than one year. All three 2024 five-stars, DJ Lagway, Dylan Raiola, and Julian Sayin, were full-time starters in 2025. Raiola started in 2024, and Lagway took over once Graham Mertz was injured at Florida. 

Of the five five-star QBs in the 2023 class, four were either starting or had transferred by their sophomore season. Arch Manning, who sat behind Quinn Ewers, another former five-star, at Texas, is the lone exception. 

When Simpson declared for the NFL Draft, it ensured that DeBoer and Alabama wouldn’t love both Mack and Russell, but it’s certainly a surprise to see both returning in what will surely be a hotly contested quarterback battle. And it’s certainly a good thing for the Crimson Tide. 

The compensation that both Mack and Russell received to resign isn’t known, but it’s unlikely that it eclipses the $5-6 million packages being thrown around for the top veteran transfer portal QBs this offseason. While a player like Brendan Sorsby or Sam Leavitt carries more certainty than two unproven players with zero combined starts, it might be a better allocation of limited resources to have two bites at the apple to find a difference maker at the most important position.