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Five things to know about Alabama's quarterbacks in 2017

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Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts set the school's single-season touchdown record with a combined 36 last season. Photo | USA Today
Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts set the school's single-season touchdown record with a combined 36 last season. Photo | USA Today
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Editor's Note: With preseason practice less than two weeks away, BamaInsider is previewing the upcoming Alabama football season by looking at each position group on offense, defense and special teams. The first installment is on the quarterbacks.

Where Alabama stands 

Alabama returns its starting quarterback for the first time since 2013. Not only that, Jalen Hurts enters his sophomore season as the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year after passing for 2,780 yards and 23 touchdowns with nine interceptions while rushing for 954 yards and a team-high 13 scores on the ground last season.

Despite losing all three of its backup quarterbacks to transfers over the past year, Alabama returns with more depth than it has had at the position in a while. That’s due in large part to early enrollee Tua Tagovailoa, who put together a breakout performance this spring. The former four-star recruit completed 17 of 29 passes for three touchdowns and an interception during Alabama’s A-Day game and appears ready for the next level if Hurts were to go down at any point in the season.

Alabama also brings in another early enrollee in Mac Jones. While not as impressive as Tagovailoa this spring, Jones shows plenty of promise at the next level. At 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, he will have to fill out more in order to withstand a grueling SEC schedule. Although the same could be said for Alabama’ career passing yards record holder AJ McCarron when he entered the program.

Where Alabama would like to be


The 661 combined passing yards Alabama’s offense put up on A-Day went a long way toward quelling the concerns surrounding the passing game. Hurts not only passed for 301 yards and two touchdowns against the Tide’s first-team defense, he showed an improvement in his downfield passing attack, completing several long passes during the scrimmage.

Saban mentioned numerous times this offseason how cautious Alabama was in handling Hurts during his freshman season, even stating the careful approach might have stunted his growth at times. Wednesday, the head coach credited first-year offensive coordinator Brian Daboll with developing Hurts as a passer and said he expects more balance in the offense this season.


“I think the goal in the offseason for Jalen was all about becoming an efficient and effective passer,” Saban said on ESPN’s Mike and Mike. “That’s not that he couldn’t do it a year ago, I think we were a little hesitant and a little risk aversive in how we tried to develop him and what we asked him to do in that role, and he certainly did a fantastic job for us and made a lot of plays in a lot of ways.”

Alabama won’t truly know how much of a step Hurts has taken until the season opener against Florida State on Sept. 2. Although, all signs this spring have pointed to a distinct improvement from the passing game.

Biggest question

No matter how many times Saban answers the question, it keeps coming up: is there a possibility of a quarterback competition between Hurts and Tagovailoa this season?

Saban has done everything to put out all flames surround the hot-topic discussion, continually stating that Hurts is the starting quarterback. However, he has mentioned that Tagovailoa needs playing time and will see the field at times this season.

“Tua is a very, very good player,” Saban said Wednesday on ESPN’s First Take. “We’re glad to have him in the program, and he’s someone who needs to play some, aight,” Saban said. “Now, I’m not creating a quarterback controversy here because Jalen Hurts is our starting quarterback. He was the SEC Player of the Year last year.”

Despite his status as a backup, Tagovailoa will be one of the most important members on Alabama’s roster. Hurts’ dual threat ability puts him at a constant risk for injury. Last season the Channelview, Texas native carried the ball a team-high 191 times, 45 times more than Alabama’s second-leading carrier. While Hurts might not tuck the ball as much this season, the Tide will need its true freshman to be ready to step in at any moment.

Projected depth chart

1. Jalen Hurts, So., 6-2, 218 pounds

2. Tua Tagovailoa, Fr., 6-1, 219 pounds

3. Mac Jones, Fr., 6-2, 190 pounds

Prediction

Jalen Hurts will have plenty of pressure on him when he steps behind center for Alabama’s season opener against Florida State. With the Tide facing one of the best defenses it will face all season, don’t expect Daboll to take too many chances in Game 1.

That being said, Hurts should continue to improve throughout the season and should be clicking on all cylinders by the time Alabama opens up SEC play. If the dynamic quarterback can add more balance to his game, he could become virtually impossible to scheme for. Quarterbacks tend to take their biggest strides between their first and second seasons. With that said, don’t be surprised if Hurts exceeds expectations and even factors into the Heisman Trophy race by the end of the season.

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