Jalen Milroe was one of the first four-year Alabama QBs in over a decade and a half to not win a championship in Tuscaloosa. That doesn’t diminish the athlete he was or what he meant to the Crimson Tide’s offense, under Nick Saban and Tommy Rees in 2023 or Kalen DeBoer and Nick Sheridan last season, though.
As DeBoer, Sheridan, and first-year lead play-caller Ryan Grubb are learning, everything Milroe brings cannot be replaced by Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, or Keelon Russell.
“In the quarterback room, as DeBoer, newly-hired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan work to secure Milroe’s replacement, it’s not a room of dual-threat options,” the Tuscaloosa News’ Colin Gay wrote.
“It’s not that Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell are not athletes. It’s not that they can’t run the ball. It’s a recognition DeBoer and his staff have already made that none of the three, whoever takes the first snap against Florida State Aug. 30, will have the same rushing production as Milroe.”
Despite not having a direct Milroe replacement, CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah believes the Crimson Tide QB room is the “envy of the nation.”
“The Crimson Tide may have been down in 2024, but Alabama is coming into 2025 with the most impressive quarterback competition in the nation. Mack was well regarded when coach Kalen DebBoer recruited him to Washington, and he opted to follow DeBoer to Tuscaloosa. Simpson was a five-star who waited three years for his opportunity. The wild card is Russell, an early-enrollee who ranked as the No. 2 overall player in the Top247 out of Duncanville, Texas. While the group lacks starting snaps, the sheer amount of talent and practice experience makes it the envy of the nation,” Jeyarajah wrote.
Not many would’ve called Milroe that. With the 22-year-old now NFL draft-bound, it seems DeBoer and Sheridan feel that to a degree.