A-Day wasn’t a game for 2025, but Alabama football still gave fans in attendance a look at its three-man quarterback battle on Saturday. Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell all took snaps during 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills throughout the practice, as they compete to replace Jalen Milroe as the Crimson Tide’s signal-caller.
The competition isn’t likely to have a winner until far closer to UA’s Aug. 30 season-opener against Florida State. Still, as Alabama closes spring practice, here’s what we saw from each of the Tide’s three potential starters.
Ty Simpson
Simpson got the majority of the first-team reps on Saturday. That makes sense, as the redshirt junior is the longest-tenured member of the quarterback room, and has served as the Crimson Tide’s primary backup for the past two season.
On Saturday, Simpson looked solid if unspectacular. He was the lone Alabama quarterback not to throw an interception during the A-Day practice.
His highlight of the day came when he evaded pressure and found freshman Derek Meadows in the middle of the field for around a 20-yard gain late in the session. Simpson looked in control of the offense during his time on the field, and seemed comfortable making the checkdowns and avoiding trouble.
Simpson threw a few inaccurate passes, but generally seemed more consistent than his competitors for the job.
Austin Mack
Mack mixed in with the top group at times, but largely ran with the second-team and seemed to be second on the depth chart. The redshirt sophomore is entering his second year with Alabama after following Kalen DeBoer over from Washington, where he had worked with new UA offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb as well.
Mack had several nice throws throughout the practice. He escaped pressure late in the practice, then found Rico Scott running toward the sideline for an impressive completion.
However, he also threw two ugly interceptions. The first went directly to cornerback Zabien Brown, and the second was caught by freshman linebacker Abduall Sanders, who it appeared Mack might not have seen before the throw.
Keelon Russell
Russell was very obviously the third quarterback in the current order. He mostly worked with the second-team in Mack’s place when he got reps in 11-on-11 drills.
DeBoer said after the Tide’s second spring scrimmage that Russell’s youth and inexperience in the system was the thing keeping him from first-team reps, in favor of Simpson and Mack. He did make some nice plays, including a pretty throw to Germie Bernard in 7-on-7s.
However, he threw a pick early in the practice, a lousy throw that fellow freshman Ivan Taylor took advantage of. Russell also fumbled on a handoff and missed several other passes.
The potential is clearly there for the five-star freshman. However, if he’s going to see the field in 2025, he will need to make large steps during the summer months ahead of preseason camp.