Kalen DeBoer discusses Alabama's QB room coming out of spring camp
Jalen Milroe’s starting, Ty Simpson's staying, and Alabama’s two redshirt freshmen continue to develop in what has become one of the deepest quarterback rooms in the nation.
All four of Alabama’s scholarship quarterbacks showed signs of potential during last weekend’s A-Day game. Milroe continued to lead the group, pulling off a trio of long passes while dealing with a series of drops during the scrimmage. Simpson also saw some first-team reps while completing 7 of 12 passes for a team-high 102 yards through the air. Meanwhile, redshirt freshmen Dylan Lonergan (8 of 12, 67 yards) and Washington transfer Austin Mack (6 of 9, 33 yards) both put in solid outings while working with the reserves.
During a Thursday appearance on The Next Round, Kalen DeBoer was asked about navigating such a deep quarterback room with the NCAA spring transfer window currently open. While the first-year head coach shied away from getting into the specifics of his quarterback competition, he was complimentary of the unit as a whole, praising his passers for their growth coming out of camp.
“You always go right to who the starter is, but there's some great talent, and I can't express the appreciation they have for just believing in our process and believing in what we're doing,” DeBoer said. “And you see from the beginning of the spring, every single one of those guys improved, becoming more comfortable in the offense.”
“Improving doesn’t mean they’re perfect. There’s a throw here, a throw there that, a read — you could see it in the spring game, can see it in the scrimmages. But they’re all in. They’re diving, diving into the playbook, and they believe in the development that they’re going to get in this program.”
Earlier this month, first-year offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan also spoke highly of Alabama’s quarterback room, stating “from top to bottom, I think all four guys have really done a nice job.”
Thursday, DeBoer praised Sheridan for his role in that development while stating the offensive coordinator has done a great job of fostering competition in the group. DeBoer also mentioned a nice relationship between the quarterbacks themselves, stating that all four are hungry to improve the unit.
“They’re all in,” DeBoer said. “They’re diving, diving into the playbook, and they believe in the development that they’re going to get in this program.”