NFL scouts are already drooling over Alabama QB Keelon Russell, and he won't even be draft-eligible for another 18 months.
The sophomore wunderkind has taken the nation by storm in just five starts for the Crimson Tide. He's gotten better every week, displaying a preternatural feel for the position, combined with ridiculous arm talent and elite athleticism.
He's special. That's the simplest, most apt description of the 19-year-old carrying the weight of the most storied program in college football history on his shoulders.
Alabama fans aren't new to special talents at QB. The last six full-time starting quarterbacks in Tuscaloosa were drafted in the third round or higher. Four of the last five were first-round picks. You had Tua Tagovailoa; you had Bryce Young, who won the first Heisman Trophy for a QB in Alabama history.
Keelon might be better.
He might end up being the best quarterback in program history. He might also be one of the best QB prospects in modern NFL history. Don't take my word for it. Read what NFL draft guru Todd McShay had to say about Russell in his latest podcast episode:
“Keelon Russell makes you second-guess what the No. 1 overall pick should look like," McShay said. "Made me think, like, oh, this is what the future of the quarterback position is going to look like, just more refined. And the future of the quarterback position may be disgusting. It may be filthy. It may be weird, some of the things you can do with your guy under center or behind center. I get it, he’s making young mistakes here and there, but the mistakes I watched him make in week one, he corrected in week two, and then he’s refining in Week 3. How much better is this going to get?
“I’ve given one 99 grade in my entire career. That was Andrew Luck. Keelon Russell is the first one where I’m like, that guy’s on a trajectory, in modern football, in today’s NFL, to get the only other grade of 99.”
Todd McShay believes Keelon Russell might be an Andrew Luck-level NFL prospect
Andrew Luck was once considered a generational NFL prospect. He was an elite QB in the NFL for a short period of time, but he retired after just six seasons.
Russell and Luck have different skill sets. McShay isn't comparing their play style. He's comparing the level of prospects they are.
Obviously, Russell still has a long way to go, and 18 months is a long time before his draft grade will get finalized. He's still only made five starts. But it's the fact that he's already this good, this quickly, that has scouts willing to speak in such bold terms about the Crimson Tide's superstar QB.
You don't normally see the light click on so quickly. Russell showed some early growing pains, particularly in Alabama's road win over Kentucky in Week 2. But starting with that flurry of touchdowns in the second quarter against Florida State, it seemed to all click for the Texas native.
Everyone has been bullish on his future since he arrived at Alabama as a consensus 5-star recruit and the No. 2 overall player in the composite for the 2025 recruiting cycle. But the future is now. He's not wasting time.
Russell is already among the best quarterbacks in the country, and he's going to just keep getting better.
This weekend against Georgia will be his biggest test so far. If he passes it with the flying colors he's passed the others with so far, then a lot of others are going to start talking in bold terms about him.
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