Re: 2016 Season QB Thread (Moved QB Posts from Practice Thread)
The thing that worries me is the "QB by mid-season" part. If Hurts is not ready to start the USC game (and by that I mean to be 1A or 1B), it is really dangerous to assume he'll be ready by the point in the season in which a single loss likely puts Alabama out of the title chase. I love the potential that Hurts has, but from my perspective the choice regarding playing him or not is a little more black and white.
Either Alabama has the confidence in him to get the job done from the first game on, or they should give strong consideration to keeping the redshirt on him. I don't mind a qb competition, I don't mind a 1A and 1B, I do though mind the idea of a battle going all the way to the middle of the season. Hurts is either ready or he isn't.
I have nothing to support this really but I've wondered if it is just a matter of regional personality differences. Cooper Bateman is from Utah, he may just not connect with the players that well.
My opinion on the matter (based on limited information obviously) is that Bateman thus far has lacked the "killer instinct" that you'd like to see from a QB. I don't like to say anything critical of players who come to Alabama, work hard, do their job, and such but if we're talking about Bateman's limitations I think part of them are mental. Yes, he knows the playbook, he is probably the most mature and so on, but to bring up an example, the guy supposedly has great speed and he just won't use his legs! Why?
We've seen it from the other QBs, when the moments were big they were capable of something special. We're still waiting for that from Bateman, even from scrimmages, even from A-Day, we're waiting for him to do something that makes us go "wow". Ole Miss is just one example and he shouldn't be judged entirely on that basis (tough defense, etc...) but what if that is really just who Bateman is as a QB? Tentative, hesitant, reluctant, those sort of words come to mind when I see some of his performances. Some of the nicest things I've seen said about him so far really would come down to his ability to throw the ball away.
Having said that, if he got the job and settled in, may be that part of him would come out and we'd see the killer instinct. We'd see him come up big, we'd see him put his body on the line, we'd see fearless determination. We haven't yet though and it's fair to wonder if that's part of who he is. Assuming that's the case, Alabama could win with that, but he's not going to inspire the team playing that way.
With all those interceptions and fumbles in Saturday's scrimmage, do you really think that Barnett is going to start against USC?
This gets into the 1A and 1B situation. Phillip Sims looked shaky at times, he still was 1B and had his shot. I think it is easy to forget Barnett is still a freshman, he might not be ready yet. So, I've said all along I think Bateman starts the game against USC, but can I see Barnett getting meaningful playing time? Yes, I can.