In an era where player movement almost defies logic – and certainly defies all historical standards and restrictions – getting a preview article even correct from a pure personnel standpoint is going to be more and more difficult with each passing season.
In recent years, we’ve waited until fall camp began to take a look at the upcoming team, giving the coaches every possible second to finalize a pre-camp roster. This has led to content droughts, however, so we’ve chosen to break up the 2025 Alabama team preview into eight segments, following our traditional eight-category game previews.
Kicking things off, of course, is the quarterback spot. The category leads off all of our game preview articles, and it’s the position most likely to trigger discussions among the fan base. Fans who are familiar with our preview articles know we rate each unit and place them in one of five categories: Excellent, Very Good, Average, Fair and Poor. New for 2025, we do a little advance scouting at the player level as well; if there is something that stands out, good or bad, it is noted for the players.
No walk-ons are rated in these articles – outside of the Special Teams preview, which will be the final in this series – unless we believe the walk-on in question has a real chance of making the actual playing rotation, not just playing in blowout situations. Players are listed below in the way we believe they finished spring camp. For players who were not yet on the team in the spring, they are listed at the end of their respective categories.
QUARTERBACKS (rating: Vg)
1. #15 Ty Simpson (Jr., 6-2, 210)
Strengths: Most experienced of the group, good mobility, confidence to attempt difficult throws
Weaknesses: Good-but-not-great power, can sometimes take too many chances, no career starts
Analysis: The departure of the polarizing Jalen Milroe has both good and bad connotations as they relate to Simpson. Fans are hoping to see a more accomplished passer in Simpson than they did in Milroe … but given Milroe’s struggles, what does it say of Simpson that he was never able to unseat Milroe, even when Milroe wasn’t the answer? Simpson has no career starts but did play the second half of Alabama’s 2023 win over South Florida on the road in terrible conditions, and he has shown flashes in several relief appearances in blowouts. He had a solid spring and the coaches said all the right things about him, but they said all the right things about Milroe last year, too. At A-Day, Simpson was by far the most comfortable of the quarterbacks but he wasn’t asked to do too much, as 2025 A-Day was essentially a 7-on-7 minicamp. The big question for Simpson will be whether he can quickly mature into a leader. Nick Saban’s primary complaint about Simpson during the time he was head coach was that Simpson didn’t always keep his head completely in the game. Simpson has been compared to everything from a more athletic A.J. McCarron, to a less frenetic Johnny Manziel. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. We expect Simpson to be the starter in 2025 and if he loses the job during the season, things probably won’t be going so well for Alabama when it happens.
2. #10 Austin Mack (So., 6-6, 235)
Strengths: Lots of height and good overall size, makes some difficult throws look easy, experienced in DeBoer’s and Grubb’s system
Weaknesses: Mechanics can break down when he scrambles, hasn’t played under pressure in college yet
Analysis: Mack’s 2025 A-Day performance got off to a slow start and he was clearly nervous, but he got incrementally better as the day went along. He still has some baby-giraffe moments when he runs – while he is decently mobile, he is not what you’d call a fluid runner – and there are still some mechanical issues that pop up especially when rolling left. Mack was just 16 years old when he graduated high school and 17 as a true freshman at Washington, so even though he’s a redshirt sophomore he’s basically on par with Keelon Russell in his development. Mack had two of the highlight throws from A-Day on a pair of sideline out routes, where he placed the ball in the only place it could have been placed to generate a catch. The arm talent is there, but he needs to clean up his follow-through mechanics. With all the fan attention on Russell, Mack probably isn’t going to get an honest shake from the fan base if Bama needs to move on from Simpson. Essentially, we feel Mack will be the backup to Simpson mostly because he’s been with Kalen DeBoer for three years now and Ryan Grubb for two. But if Simpson were to go down with injury, Mack will be looking over his shoulder as much as he will be looking forward.
3. #12 Keelon Russell (Fr., 6-3, 192)
Strengths: So-fast-you’ll-miss-it release, athletic in and out of the pocket, high-ceiling/high-floor makeup
Weaknesses: Zero experience on the college level, can be baited into mistakes across the middle
Analysis: Russell rose from a solid quarterback prospect to the No. 1 prospect in the country over the course of his high school senior season, so naturally he’s become the favorite of fans who remember Tua Tagovailoa spending a lot of time on the bench his true freshman season. Purely from an analytical perspective, Russell had a very good spring and a decent A-Day, but there were also plenty of freshman mistakes to go around. He didn’t separate himself from Mack during that time and didn’t really challenge Simpson. The tools are all there, especially a fast-snap release that recalls the best of Tagovailoa and Bryce Young. Russell could be a dual-threat QB but he probably won’t ever be asked to do a lot outside the pocket; for those hoping DeBoer would find his next Michael Penix, this is the closest analog they could have found. He is still learning how to anticipate the speed of college defenses, and there are few secondaries better than Alabama’s to go up against in practice. He probably won’t start in 2025, but he won’t have a long wait, either.