Kalen DeBoer enjoys a little competition behind center, but the first-year Alabama head coach seems set on his first-team quarterback at the moment.
During a Wednesday appearance on Tide 100.9’s “The Game with Ryan Fowler,” DeBoer spoke about the Crimson Tide’s talented quarterback room, revealing that returning starter Jalen Milroe continues to lead the pack during spring camp.
“Jalen’s taken every snap with the ones all spring,” DeBoer said. “He’s just a proven guy who’s done a great job last year. Leading a football team to a semifinal game is not easy. A conference championship, an SEC one at that, he’s just done some great things.”
Milroe is the top returning Heisman Trophy vote-getter from last season. During his first season as Alabama’s starter last year, he completed 65.8% of his passes for 2,834 yards and 23 touchdowns with six interceptions over 12 games. He was even more dangerous with his feet, adding 531 yards and 12 more scores on the ground.
“Jalen’s got multiple pieces to his game that he can just really excel at,” DeBoer said. “We have some great ones in the room. Jalen’s certainly been headlining that room and doing a great job there, really taking in the offense, leading. He’s done a great job in all facets and things you’d want a quarterback to do.”
In addition to his on-field production, Milroe was voted as a permanent team captain by his teammates last year. The redshirt junior has carried over that leadership into the offseason, serving as a rallying force in keeping the roster together while also drawing praise for his early-morning workouts and dedication to improvement.
“J-Mil, he’s a great leader,” running back Justice Haynes said earlier this month. “He leads all the time. He leads by example. He’s the first one here in the morning. He’s going to lead. He’s going to grind. The work that he puts in, I love it. We push each other. During 4th Quarter, we were right there neck-and-neck pushing each other like ‘How bad do you want it?’”
Despite his current place in Alabama’s quarterback room, Milroe is not the Tide’s only capable option behind center. Alabama also brings back redshirt sophomore Ty Simpson, who battled Milroe for the starting job last offseason, as well as redshirt freshman Dylan Lonergan, who showed promise in his first year with the program. This offseason, the Tide added Washington transfer Austin Mack, who enrolled early with the Huskies last year to learn DeBoer’s offense during his first season.
“We’re going to always be pouring into them and their growth and development,” DeBoer said of Alabama’s current backup quarterbacks. “There’s a lot of talent. There’s a lot of opportunity that exists for those guys as well to just keep growing and improving. Love what that room is showcasing right now as they all compete to be the best they can be as well.”
After taking last week off for spring break, Alabama resumed camp this week, taking part in its fourth of 15 spring practices Monday. The Tide will return to the practice field Wednesday. A portion of that workout will be open to the media.
Alabama is set to wrap up spring camp with its annual A-Day scrimmage on
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