Early in 2021, ex-Alabama quarterbacks were the toast of the NFL. Mac Jones, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts, who once shared a QB room in Tuscaloosa were all NFL starters and future No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young seemed likely to join them.
Legendary coach Nick Saban had modernized his once conservative, run-heavy offense to feature the quarterback and suddenly the Crimson Tide were producing professional passers as abundantly as they did every other position.
But barring an injury or unforeseen development, in Week 3 of the season, there will be no quarterbacks who completed their college careers at Alabama starting in the NFL.
Hurts, who transferred and finished his career at Oklahoma, is the only former Crimson Tide QB who is expected to start this week. Alabama doesn’t list him among Saban’s 123 NFL picks. Young, Tagovailoa and Jones, who were all once expected to be the saviors of their respective franchises, will all be on the sidelines.
Tide quarterbacks, many of whom have had brilliant college careers, have failed to roll once they’ve reached the NFL. Are their problems the results of coincidental issues that have plagued them individually or was their draft stock inflated by throwing to elite receivers while playing behind five-star linemen?
Joey Harrington and Akilli Smith were both first-round draft picks and Kellen Clemons was a second-rounder. All three played at Oregon under Mike Bellotti Oregon and all three underachieved in the NFL. Fair or not, Duck quarterbacks developed a reputation for struggling in the NFL. These Alabama QBs aren’t far off.
Tagovailoa has the clearest case for bad luck. He would absolutely be the Dolphins’ starter if he was healthy. His concussions obviously have nothing to do with where he played college football. But even before and between suffering his head injuries, there have been questions about whether he’s a quarterback who can lead his team to a title, a Super Bowl or even a conference title game. Overshadowed by his injury last week was how bad he’d played before that.
Before suffering a hip injury at Alabama, there were fans who wanted their team to “Tank for Tua” as if he was the next Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck. Tagovailoa has been solid, but his ceiling, even when healthy, is limited.
Mac Jones came out of Alabama with a potentially unknown ceiling, but the perception of having a high floor. He was deemed the most pro-ready when the Patriots picked him in the first round and coming from playing for Nick Saban, seemed like an easy fit for Bill Belichick.
But after a good rookie year, he’s gone backward. The Patriots deserve some of the blame. They gave him bumbling offensive novices Joe Judge and Matt Patricia as coaches in 2022 and watched him not only flounder but get frustrated.
But even under Bill O’Brien, a respected and experienced offensive mind, Jones didn’t bounce back. The Patriots traded him for very little, allowing both sides to move on. He’s currently a backup in Jacksonville.
Young has been the biggest disappointment. He was the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, but he’s looked overmatched from Day 1 for the Panthers. He’s undersized, hesitant and not especially accurate. His failures stand out that much more as the No. 2 pick, Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, has been terrific.
Young was benched after Carolina’s second straight blowout loss. He’s not the only rubber burning in Carolina’s tire fire of an organization, but he doesn’t look like a solution either. He’s won two of 18 games he started and the Panthers averaged 12 points in those victories.
Hurts, who had his best collegiate season for Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma, has been the best of the recent ex-Tide QBs and the only former Saban Alabama quarterback with a playoff win in the NFL. That’s actually a credit to Saban, who didn’t need elite pro quarterbacks to make the Tide the nation’s best program on his watch.
Even Hurts, who is the best of this wave, has been erratic. He’s been brilliant at times, but he threw the third most interceptions in the NFL last year and struggled down the stretch.
With Saban retired, future Alabama quarterbacks may be more closely tied to Michael Penix, who played for new Tide coach Kalen DeBoer at Washington. But it will be interesting to see how teams look at Jalen Milroe, who played most of his career for Saban. He’s bigger than Hurts and much bigger than Young and he’s more athletic than Tagovailoa and much more athletic than Jones. Right now he’s not landing in the first round of most mock drafts, but he might be Saban’s last chance.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
