Who Athlon Sports, Lindy’s think will win Alabama’s quarterback battle

Alabama football is in the midst of a quarterback battle to replace Jalen Milroe for the 2025 season. The Crimson Tide’s competition has a leader in Ty Simpson, who coaches said was the frontrunner after spring practice, something offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb reiterated in a Thursday radio interview.

The season is still months away, but it’s publication season for popular preview magazines, which predict depth charts as part of their annual publications. And so, both Athlon Sports and Lindy’s took a crack at the Crimson Tide’s quarterback competition.

Both took the obvious top contender. Athlon and Lindy’s chose Simpson as their pick to take the starting job.

With what Grubb said after spring ball, the magazines had no other options.

“If we’re playing a football game tomorrow, Ty Simpson would start,” Grubb said in April. “And he earned that, okay? And I know that’s the line everybody’s looking for, but that is what he earned.”

Simpson served as Milroe’s primary backup for the past two seasons. The redshirt junior battled with Milroe and Tyler Buchner for the starting job ahead of the 2023 season, before settling in as the No. 2 on the depth chart.

Athlon had Austin Mack as the backup on its published two-deep roster. Mack, entering his redshirt sophomore season, followed Kalen DeBoer from Washington before the 2024 campaign.

Mack is the only quarterback on the roster who had Grubb as his primary recruiter out of high school.

“Austin Mack made huge strides, also available reps were the same, you know, and he did a really good job,” Grubb said after spring. “He came out and developed. Just with some of the nuances and take care of the football and things like that, but Ty showed out a little bit better.”

Five-star freshman Keelon Russell is also involved in the competition. Alabama flipped his commitment from SMU.

Russell played his high school football at Duncanville, in Texas. Grubb compared him to a current NFL quarterback, who played for DeBoer and company at Washington.

“Keelon exceeded my expectations,” Grubb said in April. “I think, for a young man his age, he never gave into that opportunity. You know, we challenge him with that — don’t give in to ‘I’m a freshman,’ and this and that. And he didn’t. I say this all the time and I mean it as the biggest compliment, he reminds me so much of Michael Penix, just in his demeanor, you know, he has such a calm demeanor. Sometimes, you know, you need to find the other edge of that and put a little bit of rush on it but he did a great job.”

Alabama will conclude the quarterback battle during preseason camp, which will begin in early August. DeBoer has said he would like to determine a starter around a week-and-a-half before the Crimson Tide’s Aug. 30 season-opener at Florida State.

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