Alabama Crimson Tide’s 2024 season, and their first under Kalen DeBoer, is now wrapped in a blanket of criticism and skepticism with occasional highs, too. DeBoer is now busy preparing for the future and has a lot on his plate rather than reminiscing about last year’s faults. Sure, he has a lot to prove considering a 9-4 season may have gotten him some leeway in his first season. But doing it year after year without any silverware? Yeah. Good luck doing that at Bama. This is a program that demands the best of the best. The fans? Well, they will be ready to eat him alive if results do not come soon.
In that same spirit, Kalen DeBoer is preparing quite vigorously for the 2025 season. He has roped in a 3rd-ranked class nationally in 2025 and has made all the staff changes to supplement the plan. The plan? Carry forward the Nick Saban years like he hasn’t even departed. Will that be too much to ask? Maybe or maybe not. After all, Kalen DeBoer has all the right ingredients to do just that and has got himself an OC in Ryan Grubb, who knows all the ins and outs of his strategy. Yet, there’s a slight problem.
Alabama’s ace quarterback Jalen Milroe has now exhausted his eligibility and is looking for a new challenge in the NFL. There are questions about the quarterback who would take his place or at least transition gradually in Milroe’s shoes. The options? Well, there are three currently. Those are Austin Mack, Ty Simpson, and Keelon Russell. They do not currently have that promise of a dual-threat QB or even the experience to back them up. Still, there must be someone who would take Milroe’s responsibility for the Tide.
T-Bob Herbert of ‘Snaps’ college football podcast picked his choice of quarterback for Alabama, and it’s not Ty Simpson. “Austin Mack has a very real chance to win this job. This is the player that was at Washington with DeBoer and Grubb for one year. He’s a four-star coming out, highly rated coming out of high school, and again, if I was an Alabama fan, this is the guy that I would be latched on to. Because I don’t know how you could be a Ty Simpson believer. He’s had all the time. He’s had the opportunity. What’s going to magically click this season that’s going to make him better?”
Ty Simpson’s exploits might have influenced Kalen DeBoer to sign Austin Mack from his old team, Washington. A 4-star rated prospect initially at Washington and was ranked as the 16th QB nationally in the 2023 class. He redshirted in his first season and didn’t play a single snap, came to Alabama on a transfer in 2024, and featured in just one game against the Mercer Bears. A game in which he passed for a touchdown and threw for 39 yards. In that sense, he propels quite a bit of optimism since we haven’t seen enough of him. And if his high school stats are of any consideration. He threw for 3,498 yards in his junior year and had a 70.4% pass completion rate. The player can be that dark horse replacing Ty Simpson as Bama’s QB1.
Keelon Russel left out in the QB1 hype by Kalen DeBoer?
Let’s talk about Ty Simpson now. This is a player who was a five-star in the 2022 class and was ranked 2nd nationally in the QB position. He had everything you would want in a quarterback prodigy. He had a high ceiling, exceptional athleticism, and a frame at 6’1″ and 200 lbs, which screamed ‘world-class’. Yet, in his 3 years at Alabama, the QB1 spot was always elusive for the guy. He didn’t see many snaps when Nick Saban was around, and he hasn’t seen all that much under Kalen DeBoer. And even in the limited snaps and starts the player got, he didn’t quite stay true to his hype. Jalen Milroe, Bama’s departing QB, shared his stance on the QB battle.
“I spent a lot of time with Austin [Mack] and Ty [Simpson], and one thing that’s for certain is that they are very talented.” However, the former QB1 was all in praise for Kalen DeBoer’s new guy, Keelon Russell. “He has a bright future in front of him. He’s from the state of Texas. He’s from a state where everything is about competing and being the best version of yourself, and so he has a bright future.”
Speaking of Keelon Russell, how could we forget about him in this whole scenario? A 5-star true freshman QB for Alabama who is ranked nationally in the 2025 class. His high school exploits are mouthwatering, as he led them to a state championship in the 2023 season. The player threw for 3,267 yards and 35 touchdowns and conceded just 3 interceptions. Now, when you compare his abilities and his 6-foot, 3.25-inch, 182-lb frame. He also looks to be the potential QB1 pocket passer for Kalen DeBoer.
The post Ty Simpson’s Alabama Crown in Jeopardy as Insider Names 3,498-Yds QB to End Kalen DeBoer’s Mounting Dilemma appeared first on EssentiallySports.