3/4/2024 football Edit

Kalen DeBoer talks Jalen Milroe, Alabama's depth chart after first practice

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe participates in the Crimson Tide's first spring practice on Monday. Photo | Alabama Athletics

Tony Tsoukalas • TideIllustrated

Managing Editor

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Practice No. 1 of the Kalen DeBoer era was followed up with a depth chart question.

Following Alabama’s first practice of spring camp Monday, DeBoer spoke with reporters about his team, stating he was taking a clean-slate approach in terms of evaluating his players. However, the Crimson Tide has to start somewhere in terms of a depth chart.

While DeBoer wasn’t asked to provide his team’s full pecking order, he did receive a question about Jalen Milroe and whether the returning starter has his guy at the quarterback position.

“You want competition, right?” DeBoer responded. “The competition’s always going to be there. Someone had to take the first reps with the ones when we lined up, and we refer to them as that. And Jalen did. So he’s played everything into he can along with the other guys who took those first reps.But I fully expect those guys that are really hungry to be pushing those guys that are ahead of them to be their best, and that’s what you want in a football program. That’s certainly going to be the case here with so many good football players here wanting to get on the football field.

Milroe is the top returning Heisman Trophy vote-getter from last season. The redshirt junior started 13 games last season, completing 65.8% of his passes for 2,834 yards and 23 touchdowns with six interceptions. He also added 531 yards and 12 more scores on the ground.

Along with Milroe, Alabama returns redshirt sophomore Ty Simpson and redshirt freshman Dylan Lonergan. The Crimson Tide also brought in Washington transfer Austin Mack, who enrolled early to learn DeBoer’s offense during his redshirt freshman season last year.

During a radio interview with Tide 100.9’s "The Game with Ryan Fowler" last month, DeBoer described his offense as “multiple,” stating it could mold around different styles of quarterbacks.

“You need a guy who's poised, a guy that when the big moment comes is confident and his teammates feel that,” DeBoer said at the time. “I think there's things that you do as a quarterback beyond the skillset just in leading the football team. That just comes through repetition, confidence, great preparation, being that guy who brings it every single day and every single moment and the team feeding off of him.”