Kalen DeBoer will take his sweet time — about a week and a half till the regular season begins to name Alabama's QB starter.
Until then, the Crimson Tide head coach is taking note of every pro and con that the three, Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, and Keelon Russell, would add to the Tide's offense.
"I think all three quarterbacks we have do have the ability to extend plays," DeBoer remarked on Greg McElroy's podcast.
"You know, what they’re doing as far as moving the chains, using their legs to keep plays alive. Austin Mack, even as big as he is, once he gets moving, he covers a lot of ground. Ty [Simpson] was a great dual-threat. Keelon [Russell] has the same abilities to make people miss and probably is faster than most people think. But I think we’re more similar as a group."
While articulating about the potential stars of his offense, DeBoer also tipped his hat to former Alabama QB1 Jalen Milroe, lauding him for his "never-seen-before" explosiveness.
"The diversity of who we have, as far as skill sets and how different they were and how you wanted to use them — you know, Jalen [Milroe], as far as explosiveness, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like it with a quarterback that could use his legs, or had that luxury in that fashion. You have to make sure you’re utilizing the skill sets of your players. Jalen certainly had a — I referred to it as a superpower, that we had to make sure we had incorporated into our plan," the Tide head coach added.
DeBoer still has time to develop whoever he plans to name his next starter to be more in sync with the receiving corps.
Or he could choose the one whose skills fit the best with his current receiving corps.
Other factors will also come into play when making the decision. Perhaps Simpson, the one with the edge in Tide's QB battle, can take notes and improvise his reps while he still can.