🏈 Alabama QB competition once again wide open during spring

[By Alex Byington Sports]

Alabama QB competition once again wide open during spring

This time, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban can’t rely on a returning senior at quarterback.
Instead, Alabama will turn to a junior with only one career start, a sophomore and two freshmen: redshirt Blake Barnett and early enrollee Jalen Hurts.

“We had AJ (McCarron) for three years, and he did a fabulous job for us,” Saban said last week in Mobile, according to AL.com. “Blake Sims, Jake (Coker) both did an outstanding jobs for us. We have four guys competing right now. I think they’re all doing very well. I think they have some talent and things they can contribute. We’ll just see who develops the best.”

Junior Cooper Bateman — who started one game last season (a loss) as Coker’s backup — has received the first reps during individual drills in an order that appears based on seniority.
That also has allowed Bateman to receive the most reps with the first-team offense, Saban said.

“Cooper’s done a good job,” Saban said Monday. “He obviously has the most knowledge and experience with the offense. He’s also the guy that’s probably gotten more reps with the 1s than anybody else. He’s done a nice job.”

Working behind Bateman have been sophomore David Cornwell and Barnett, a five-star quarterback signee who’s in his second year with the program.

And while Barnett has shown improvement, so has Cornwell.

“David’s having a good spring so far,” Saban said.

“David has a really good arm. His arm talent is probably as good as anybody we have. His accuracy’s good. He’s smart, a very bright guy. I think he’s got enough experience in the offense having been around here to really have a good understanding of it. I think he’s made a lot of progress.”

Barnett spent his spring break week working with quarterback guru George Whitfield in California and has come back showing improvement with his footwork and accuracy.
But ability has never been an issue with Barnett. It’s his grasp of the offense.

“He’s really grown in the classroom, understanding things after making the transition from high school to college, he’s done a great job with that,” third-year offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said of Barnett in January. “I don’t know what his future is. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, a lot of ways to go with him, but so far we’ve been very pleased with his development.”


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