Tag: dylan lonergan

Kalen DeBoer says Alabama quarterbacks are ‘all in’

Does Alabama football have the best quarterback room in the country?

What a difference a year makes. This time last year Alabama Crimson Tide football fans were worried to death about the quarterback room in Tuscaloosa and now it appears to be one of the strengths of the team. In fact, you could argue that Alabama has the best QB room in the country.

Jalen Milroe is back for the Tide after starting 13 games in 2023 and finishing in the top 10 of the Heisman Trophy voting. Ty Simpson is a former five-star recruit who has blossomed into an SEC-ready player. Dylan Lonergan and Austin Mack both have shown that their futures are bright in college football as well.

To say that head coach Kalen DeBoer is thrilled with the quarterbacks who be an understatement. Coach DeBoer and the entire Alabama offensive coaching staff consistently raved about the progress that all of the QBs had made this spring and despite the transfer portal window currently being open, it appears all four are staying put in Tuscaloosa.

On Thursday, Coach DeBoer was asked about his quarterbacks while on “The Next Round”.

“I know that you always go right to who the starter is, but there’s some great talent,” DeBoer said. “I can’t express the appreciation they have for just believing in our process and believing in what we’re doing. 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 throw there, a read, you can see it in the spring game, I’ve seen it in the scrimmages, but man, they’re all in.

“They’re diving into the playbook and they believe in the development that they’re going to get in this program. Nick Sheridan has done an amazing job, I think, really trying to continue to foster the competition amongst the group, but also those guys, it’s really neat to see their relationship and their trust in each other, their belief in each other. And those friendships continue to grow. So he’s done an amazing job, not just with the offense but with the quarterback room.”

DeBoer is known for his quarterback-friendly approach to the game and his history of developing NFL-caliber quarterbacks certainly helps Alabama in its efforts to keep the stacked room unbroken.

Stay connected to Roll Tide Wire for all the latest on the Alabama Crimson Tide!

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on X (Twitter) @Blackwood89.

Pre-Spring Position Preview: Breaking down the Alabama QBs

A closer look at the Alabama quarterbacks ahead of spring football practice

Before we know it, new Alabama head football coach Kalen DeBoer will hit the practice field with his Crimson Tide players for the first time when spring practice gets underway in March.

With the retirement of the legendary Nick Saban, there have not been this many question marks surrounding the football program since 2007 when Saban took over.

Contrary to popular belief, Alabama still has one of the most talented rosters in the country and should be right in the thick of the college football playoff conversation.

As the anticipation builds leading up to spring practice, Roll Tide Wire will preview each position group.

Let’s get it started with the quarterbacks:

Nick Saban comments on the downside of ongoing QB battle

Nick Saban remains tight-lipped on who will start against Middle Tennessee State

Wednesday was a busy day for the Alabama football team. The Crimson Tide completed its 17th practice of the preseason and it also marked the first day of classes on campus in Tuscaloosa.

Following practice, head coach [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] took time with local reporters to provide an update on his team as the Tide inch closer to game week.

During his press conference, Coach Saban was asked about the ongoing quarterback battle and what the downside of that position being unsettled has on the team.

“Yeah, but that’s kind of up to them. Like I said in here before. I told the quarterbacks, I said, ‘Quit looking around for me to make a decision about who’s gonna play. How about you playing good enough that I don’t have a choice? That’s what you can control. That’s what you can do.’ And somebody needs to do that. And it’s sort of taking shape to some degree, but somebody’s got to do it. Where you all think that, like whoever we name as a starter the first game, that’s like the end of it. That’s not the end of it. It’s just the beginning. What if a guy doesn’t play good? He’s not entitled to keep playing. And the guy that doesn’t play got every opportunity to practice and be more consistent and win the team over so that when he gets an opportunity to play, he plays really well. We have changed quarterbacks around here a few times during the season. So, I know you guys are looking for an end but it’s not even gonna be the end in the first game.”

“You’re looking at me kind of funny. Did I not explain that very well. I know what you asked. I just don’t want to answer it. We’re gonna make the best of it for our team and our team has to be make the best of it as well. And whoever plays the position, everybody gotta play well around him and do the best job that they can to help them play well.”

I think what Saban said here is pretty important. He made it very clear that there is still not very much separation between the quarterbacks and it is likely to play out over multiple games this season. With Texas lurching in Week 2, most fans would like for a starter to be etched, but also like Saban said, this wouldn’t be the first time in his tenure that a QB battle carried over into multiple games.

Alabama will hit the practice field again on Thursday, Aug. 24.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on X (Twitter) @Blackwood89.

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Making the case for why each Alabama QB could be named starter for Week 1

Roll Tide Wire makes the case for why each quarterback could be named Alabama’s starting quarterback.

The question of the offseason is Tuscaloosa has been: Who will be named Alabama’s starting quarterback? Will it be Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, Tyler Buchner? Recently, even true freshman Dylan Lonergan has had his name mentioned in the conversation.

That is the question that Alabama fans have continuously searched for over the last few months. Each quarterback is different and stands out in their own way. There have been various reports that provide optimism for each of the four candidates to win the starting quarterback job.

Today, Roll Tide Wire makes the case for why each Alabama quarterback could be named as the team’s starter for Week 1 of the 2023 season.

Post-spring depth chart projections for Alabama’s quarterbacks

Projecting Alabama’s quarterback depth chart post-spring!

Now that spring football has officially wrapped up and the 2023 NFL draft is complete, it is time to shift our focus to the offseason.

Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have a ton of questions marks exiting spring and fans are chomping at the bit for answers.

So as we dive into the dog days of summer, I thought we could take a look, position by position, and project the possible depth chart for the 2023 Alabama football team post-spring.

We will start with the position group with the biggest question mark, the quarterbacks. Will it be Jalen Milore, Ty Simpson, or Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner?

Let’s take our best shot at projecting the post-spring depth chart!

Trio of Alabama football newcomers selected as Student-Athletes of the Week

Trio of Alabama newcomers earn the honor of Student-Athletes of the Week!

Nick Saban and the Alabama football are entering their second week of spring football practice and Tide fans are foaming at the mouth for some football-related content.

On Monday, the Crimson Tide released this week’s recipients of the Student-Athletes of the Week! A trio of newcomers earned the honor this week, freshman tight end Ty Lockwood, freshman quarterback Dylan Lonergan, and Georgia transfer linebacker Trezmen Marshall.

Both Lockwood and Lonergan are expected to provide depth this season and most likely redshirt while Marshall is in a prime position to take over one of the starting inside linebacker roles in the Kevin Steele defense.

Congratulations to these three newcomers to the Crimson Tide!

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on Twitter @Blackwood89.

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Alabama QB battle labeled one of the most interesting of 2023 offseason

Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson are expected to battle for the starting job, but don’t forget about the two incoming freshmen.

With Heisman-winning quarterback Bryce Young off to the NFL, Nick Saban is left with a vacancy at the quarterback position; and for the first time in five years, there’s not a clear answer.

The starting job is expected to be up for grabs between Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson.

Of the two, only Milroe saw truly meaningful playing time, which was a start against Texas A&M at home when Young was sidelined with a shoulder injury. In the win, he had 12 completions on 19 attempts for 111 yards, three touchdowns and a single interception. He also ran for 83 yards.

The Crimson Tide also added highly-coveted recruits from the 2023 class Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan.

At this point, the position might as well be wide open and nobody should be ruled out as spring practice nears.

Patrick Conn of College Sports Wire recently listed the most intriguing quarterback battles of the offseason and kicked things off with the Tide.

“We start out in Tuscaloosa where Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson are looking to replace the potential No. 1 selection in the NFL draft. Bryce Young led Alabama to a national championship appearance and a Sugar Bowl victory. The Tide was 23-4 in his starts over two seasons. Milroe won the only start he made in 2022 when he played in Young’s place due to injury.

Simpson is a former five-star signee and looks to unseat Milroe as the Tide’s next starting quarterback. Alabama also has Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan on the roster.”

With the offseason real just getting started, Saban and his staff will have plenty of time to evaluate the roster and see which player deserves the title of QB1 for the Crimson Tide.

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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on Twitter @SpurrFM.

Position Breakdown: Alabama QB’s ahead of spring practice

A deep dive into the Alabama quarterback room as spring football approaches.

We are now just a few weeks out from Nick Saban and the Alabama football team taking the practice field to begin spring ball.

As is the case each offseason, there are many questions that need to be answered before the Tide hit the field to start the 2023 season.

As spring practice creeps closer, we are going to break down each position group on both sides of the ball and we are going to start with the quarterbacks.

The quarterback competition this spring will surely be one of the hottest topics of conversation for Alabama fans this offseason.

Let’s dive right in!

Where did the top quarterbacks sign in the 2023 recruiting class?

Jackson Arnold to Oklahoma and Arch Manning to Texas, but where did the rest of the top quarterback sign to play college ball in 2023?

From the high school level to the NFL, quarterback play has become the greatest contributor to winning in the game of football. Teams can certainly win without great quarterback play, but they must have an elite defense and running game to do so.

So when a team lands one of the top quarterbacks in a recruiting class, it’s a big deal.

The Oklahoma Sooners have had their fair share of great quarterbacks over the last 20 years. Sooner quarterbacks have won four Heisman trophies and earned more trips to New York as a finalist as well.

In the 2023 cycle, the Sooners signed [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag]. A four-star player at the time of his commitment last January, he has skyrocketed over the last 11 months. From earning Elite 11 MVP honors in the summer to becoming a consensus five-star player, Arnold’s stock has seen incredible growth. He backed that up with an incredible senior season, during which he accounted for 4,400 total yards and 57 touchdowns to help Denton Guyer reach the Texas 6A state semifinals.

He’s the highest-ranked player in the Oklahoma Sooners recruiting class, according to 247Sports. Arnold was the second-longest tenured commitment in the class before signing with Oklahoma on the first day of the early signing period. Pulling the No. 1 player in the state of Texas and the No. 7 player in the class is a huge win for [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag].

Arnold’s addition helped ease the loss of Malachi Nelson, who flipped to USC to follow Lincoln Riley last December. Signing Arnold also helped the Sooners answer the Arch Manning signing by Texas.

There are a lot of good quarterbacks out there going to a lot of different places. Let’s take a look at where the top signal-callers landed.

Everything Nick Saban said on Wednesday of early signing period

Everything Alabama football coach Nick Saban said on Wednesday of the early signing period.

[autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Alabama Crimson Tide once again dominate the recruiting trail and have hauled in the nation’s top class for the 2023 cycle.

Coach Saban doesn’t have time to bask in the glow of his recruiting prowess at the moment though as his team is currently in the midst of its preparation for Kansas State and the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Following practice on Wednesday, coach Saban would step behind the podium at the Mal Moore Athletic Center to discuss how practice is going and his thoughts on the signing class.

Here is everything coach Saban had to say earlier this afternoon: