Alabama football will have a new starting quarterback in 2025.
Jalen Milroe declared for the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday after two seasons as the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback. Now someone else will run the offense for Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan.
So, get ready for a quarterback competition.
As of today, the quarterback room will consist of Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell for next season. That’s a group with plenty of potential but limited experience.
Simpson is the most experienced, and he’s never started a game before. But he will enter the offseason in pole position to win the job. Simpson, a five-star quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class, wasn’t able to grab the starting job away from Milroe in 2023 when there was a competition, but Simpson was only heading into his second season of college football then. Now, Simpson has played three seasons, serving primarily as a backup. He has logged 188 snaps over that span, per Pro Football Focus. The Martin, Tennessee native has completed 29 of 50 passes for 381 yards, no passing touchdowns but three rushing touchdowns.
“Ty with some scrambles,” DeBoer said after the Mercer game. “The long one along our sideline. People who really know and have watched Ty … you can see he’s got that ability. Can do things with his feet … Ty is tough to handle when it comes to running the football too.”
Simpson figures to have every opportunity to win the job, and there’s good reason to believe he can win it. But he will have to win it and fend off the other contenders.
Mack is the other contender with college experience, albeit limited. Mack transferred from Washington to Alabama ahead of 2024, following DeBoer. Mack graduated a year early from high school and spent the 2023 season with the Huskies. So even though he’s in his third year as part of a college program, Mack should only be out of high school two years. He didn’t play for Washington in 2023, then he saw limited action behind Milroe and Simpson in 2024. Mack completed two of three passes for 39 yards and one touchdown against Mercer this season.
“He’s really come a long way,” DeBoer said of Mack in December. “It’s fun seeing him take advantage of even the scout team reps he took and just his ability to throw the ball where he wants it. And sometimes that’s a great opportunity because if you make a mistake it’s not the end of the world, but you can keep honing in on your skills. So, he did a lot this year to help those guys with the defense and now he’s getting more and more reps. So I’m excited about his future, for sure.”
Then there’s Russell, the five-star quarterback and No. 2 prospect in the entire 2025 recruiting class, per the 247Sports Composite. The Duncanville, Texas native has a bright future ahead. But whether that means he can start right away remains to be seen.
The talent and pedigree is there. The question is whether he can get up to speed fast enough in his transition to the college game.
“He’s got the arm talent, is accurate, can throw different arm slots,” DeBoer said in December. “Then also the ability as an athlete to make plays with his feet too.”
The competition between the three figures to be fierce. Simpson will be the early favorite, but he will have his hands full fending off Mack and Russell.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
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