Ad Disclosure
Alabama’s record-setting offense from 2014 will be a different animal in 2015. After coming into spring with holes at places like wide receiver and along the offensive line, Alabama seems to have sorted out its depth chart at all but one spot, the one the Crimson Tide most need to get right: quarterback.
After losing their three leading receivers from 2014, including record-smasher Amari Cooper, the Tide appears to have sorted out its rotation out wide. It appears they’ll be led by Robert Foster and ArDarius Stewart this fall after the two split MVP honors in Alabama’s spring game. Along the offensive line, the Tide replaces three starters, but with the depth and the ridiculous amount of blue-chip recruits they’ve brought in the last several years that was never thought to be a pressing issue.
Quarterback presents a different problem. As usual, Alabama will have one of the most talented teams in the nation, top to bottom, heading into the season. To state the obvious, they’ll need a quarterback to pull the whole offensive unit together.
Alabama certainly doesn’t lack for talent at the position; the depth chart is filled with a touted transfer, Jacob Coker, and several inexperienced options who have excellent recruiting pedigrees. The talent, however, is not the issue. None of Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin’s options has seized control of the competition yet, presenting the Tide with its biggest remaining issue heading into summer.
There were similar questions at the position last year, although with fewer options. Blake Sims ended up being the perfect leader for the offense, even if the team ultimately fell short of its national championship aspirations. Sims beat out Coker for the job in somewhat of an upset after looking very shaky in the 2014 spring game.
Just as he was last fall, Coker was expected to grab ahold of the job this spring. He hasn’t done that yet. While he was fine in the spring game — completing 14-of-28 passes for 183 yards, one touchdown and one interception — he didn’t do anything to firmly distance himself from his competitors. Alec Morris was the other quarterback to play with the offensive starters, and he completed 7-of-11 passes for 60 yards, keeping himself in the race. David Cornwell was solid as well, completing 12-of-24 passes for 110 yards and a score, but also tossed two interceptions (of the six total thrown by Alabama’s quarterbacks).
The competition for the job is heading into fall without a clear-cut leader. While the field has been somewhat narrowed after five quarterbacks came into the spring with a chance at the job, it’s concerning that Coker — the only player in the field with any college passes to his name — hasn’t been able to separate himself. He didn’t get up to speed on the playbook quickly enough last year, and this spring he didn’t perform like a fifth-year senior in comparison to a group of freshmen.
Saban and Kiffin have every reason to take their time evaluating the position. It’s not as if they’re working with quarterbacks of varying styles to whom they’d need to tailor the offense; all of the competitors are of similar stature and playing style. The concern is determining the on-field leader for an offense that will be far less experienced than usual come fall.
If the staff goes with youth over experience at quarterback, it would be a step in a new direction for Saban. Most important, though, is determining that direction to provide the offense with its steward.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
