Based primarily on passing efficiency stats from the 2024 season, eight quarterbacks are going to be no match for the Alabama Football defense. One reason is the Alabama Crimson Tide secondary will be one of the nation's best. With that improvement alone, a good Alabama defense from last season should be even better in 2025.
Considering passing efficiency alone, the quarterback posing the biggest threat to the Crimson Tide is Oklahoma's John Mateer. Against FBS teams, Mateer was No. 9 nationally last season. The other three that potentially challenge Alabama are LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers, and Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia. Pavia is included in the quartet because he led the Dores to a victory over Alabama last season. The odds of that happening in 2025 are slim and none. Statistically, Nussmeier, Sellers, and Pavia were well behind Mateer last season at No. 47, No. 22, and No. 31, respectively. Why Nussmeier was good rather than great in the 2024 season will be the subject of a later post.
Among the eight QBs who are likely to struggle against Alabama, no stats are included for the ULM and Eastern Illinois. However well they play against the Crimson Tide, their teams lack the roster talent to beat Alabama. Also not included are Georgia's Gunner Stockton and Missouri's presumed starter, Beau Pribula. Neither guy had sufficient 2024 stats to be ranked.
Florida State's Thomas Castellanos also failed to play in enough games to be ranked for passing efficiency. Digging deeper into the stats for Castellanos, he played against seven FBS teams. In his seventh game against Syracuse, an injury caused an early third-quarter exit. In the other six games, his passing efficiency stats calculate to an impressive 150.56 rating. That would have placed him in the top 15 of FBS quarterbacks.
A deeper dive shows that Castellanos' stats were against six teams with mediocre to poor pass defenses. The best of the six was Virginia Tech at No. 40, followed by Louisville at No. 53, Florida State at No. 61, Virginia at No. 67, Missouri at No. 83, and Michigan State at No. 84. Alabama Football was at No. 19 last season, with a secondary that needed time to come together. A more seasoned Alabama secondary should begin the season as one of the top eight in college football. With adequate pass pressure from the Crimson Tide, Castellanos should find it hard to lead the Noles to much passing production.
Remaining no threats to Alabama Football
The remaining opposing QBs, posing no threat to Alabama are Wisconsin's Billy Edwards Jr. with a 2024 passer rating of No. 88; Tennessee's Joey Aguilar with a No. 73 rating and Auburn's Jackson Arnold with a rating of No. 100. Arnold gets no credit for beating Alabama with 133 rushing yards last season.
Note: The numerous player stats included are provided by cfbstats.com and Sports Reference