The Alabama Crimson Tide is at the brink of a new dawn, it seems! With Jalen Milroe taking his services to the big league—after a 2,844 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions season, and a 6,016 yards, 45 TDs and 20 INT career-total with Alabama—there’s an exciting QB battle that’s stopped breaths all over the nation. With Austin Mack slowly slipping away from the conversation, the battle is heating up between Ty Simpson and Keelon Russell. But if you ask an Alabama insider, destiny has already ruled in one signal-caller’s favor. But before we get to that…

Let’s talk more about the options at hand. For starters, there’s freshman quarterback Russell, who’s one of the top recruits in the country. Flipping from SMU, the No. 2 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class as per 247Sports Composite, is reportedly also the highest-rated Alabama quarterback signee since Bryce Young. During his junior season at Duncanville High School, the young player completed 72% of his passes for 3,483 yards with 38 touchdowns, and just three interceptions. He also led his school to its second consecutive 6A Division 1 state title. In 2o24, though, his stats improved even more. In 12 games, Russell completed 71.5% of passes for 3,652 passing yards, 52 touchdowns, and JUST two interceptions. Well, no wonder Kalen DeBoer is impressed…

After the team’s second spring practice on March 5, the coach told media, “[Keelon is] excited about what this growth’s going to be even during this spring. But his ceiling and what he accomplished through what you can see on the high school film, he’s a pretty elite quarterback coming in as a high school senior…” But looks like Russell might not be getting the upper hand next season. Reason?

On the March 29 episode of College Football Addiction, Alabama insider Drew DeArmond revealed who he thinks will clinch that coveted spot. But first, he corrected himself: “I created a little bit of a stir…I’m a regular on The Chuck Oliver show…Chuck…put me on the spot…he said, ‘Drew…who do you think is going to be in Tallahassee taking the first snap?’ And this was almost over a month ago…I just said, ‘Keelon Russell’…He’s the National Player of the Year…even Nick Saban, with all his recruiting chops…he never signed the reigning National Player of the Year…I think he’s an Elite Talent right now. [But] he’s not the starting quarterback. He’s the most talented of the group, but he’s not experienced.”

“Right now, Ty Simpson is the leader in the clubhouse. He’s been there four years, he’s graduated, he’s a redshirt junior.” Even Josh Pate echoed this sentiment via CBS Sports earlier in March. “I’ve done some digging,” he said. “I think Ty Simpson’s the overwhelming favorite to win that starting job.” Notably, Simpson is the most experienced one in the room with 50 career pass attempts, three rushing touchdowns but zero passing TDs in three seasons at Alabama as a backup. “You certainly appreciate what he’s done. Just continued to work on what he can control and that’s himself. Continued to build relationships to get read for this chance that he has right in front of him to not just step up as a leader, because I I think he’s been doing that, but to have that opportunity to step in and be the quarterback,” DeBoer had once said about him.

What’s more? Former Alabama TE CJ Dippre, who’s NFL-bound, believes Ty Simpson is ready to take the game to the next level. Speaking on the Beat Everyone podcast on Bama’s QB battle, he said, “I thought this past 2024 season, throughout practices, from 2023 to 2024, I thought Ty made the biggest step out of anybody on the team. I think he stepped up… I think he’s going to be really good.” But Keelon Russell’s case is far from closed. However…

Keelon Russell still remains strong in the mix 

A reigning Gatorade National Player of the Year. Alabama’s highest-rated recruit ever! The No. 2 QB and second-overall prospect enters Tuscaloosa with a rare pedigree. Keelon Russell may be a true freshman, but the Tide have already seen what a rookie like Ryan Williams could bring to the table straight out of high school. 

No wonder Keelon Russell’s got a strong endorsement from bamaonline.com lead publisher Tim Watts. “He’s as good as they thought he would be,” he stated. “He throws a pretty football. He’s confident. He relates well with his teammates. He relates well with the recruits on campus… He’s as advertised, so far.” If he keeps showing out in camp, Kalen DeBoer may have to crush DeArmond’s perception. 

But Ty Simpson getting the starting nod also makes sense. He’s put in the time, and he deserves the chance. But Alabama football is a ruthless business, and nothing is set in stone. So we’ll see what happens.