A lot to learn
Saban sees little experience among Crimson Tides QBs
It’s all in how you frame it. For the first time since the AJ McCarron era, Alabama has a quarterback in spring practice who was the solidified starter the season before.
That, of course, would be sophomore Jalen Hurts, who was an early enrollee this time last year before winding up as the Southeastern Conference’s offensive player of the year. The 6-foot-2, 214-pounder from Channelview, Texas, completed 240 of 382 passes (62.8 percent) for 2,780 yards with 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Yet Hurts snatched the starting role from a trio of older competitors — Blake Barnett, Cooper Bateman and David Cornwell — and that’s where Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban sees the big difference compared to last spring.
“We have one year of experience with all of our quarterbacks combined,” Saban said during Tuesday evening’s news conference that followed the first spring practice. “That’s more of the dynamic to me than having our starting quarterback back. Because we do have a starting quarterback coming back, it’s easier for us to self-assess what we need to do for him, with him and to help coach him so that he can develop in areas that would be helpful to him becoming even more of a complete player.
“He can be a dual-threat guy who can be difficult for defenses to defend.”
McCarron started from 2011 to 2013, helping guide the Crimson Tide to national titles in his first and second seasons and to a 36-2 record before upset losses to Auburn and Oklahoma in his final two games. Blake Sims succeeded McCarron in 2014, with Jake Coker taking the reins in 2015, and Barnett actually started last season’s opener against Southern California before Hurts entered and turned a 3-0 deficit into a 52-6 rout of the Trojans.
Hurts also rushed for 954 yards and averaged 5.0 yards per carry last season, tallying 13 touchdowns.
Barnett (Arizona State), Bateman (Utah) and Cornwell (Nevada) have each transferred within the past several months, leaving just Hurts and early enrollees Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones this
“We have one year of experience with all of our quarterbacks combined.” – NICK SABAN
spring. The five-star Tagovailoa was the nation’s No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the 2017 signing class according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, while the four-star Jones was the No. 12 pro-style talent.
“The other two guys, who are freshmen, are going to have to grow into being adequate backups by the fall,” Saban said. “This is the least amount of experience we’ve ever had at quarterback, regardless of having the starter back, but I like all these guys and their attitude. All three have a lot of potential to be really good players.”
Bateman adjusts
Bateman is behind Troy Williams and Tyler Huntley on Utah’s quarterback depth chart, but he doesn’t sound like someone who regrets his decision to leave Tuscaloosa for Kyle Whittingham’s Utes.
“I knew I wasn’t coming into a great situation,” Bateman recently told the Salt Lake Tribune. “It was more about coming to play for a cool guy like Coach and an offensive staff like this that actually cares for their players. You can enjoy being out there.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.