Members of the team said it's not rare that they have a team meeting. I assume that some or many are just not reported. The couple of player comments that I saw about the QBs was that they fully supported whoever the QB was. Ridiculous conspiracy theories have sprung up based simply on rumors, but they found a ready audience among those whose favorite was not chosen. (Maybe what's really happening is that Seth is sabotaging JM like he did Bryce last year. Did he deliver any bad snaps to TS or were they all on the money? That's the real question - right?)
What Saban has frequently said over the years is that "the QB needs to win the team". I assume that is only one consideration, though a major one, that Saban uses as input into his final decision. I don't think the team "chooses the QB". Neither do I believe that the team laid down on Buchner or Simpson. They were playing an inferior opponent and for typical reasons were not up for the game, but mainly, though improving, they just are not great in pass pro. Also, USF had some small quick pass rushers that were a real problem. The same OL issues that Milroe had faced were evident for TB and TS. Buchner actually processed the info quickly and got the ball out quickly but mostly threw very poor passes and a couple of pathetic ones. It was a remarkable display that I did not see in the SC game, though he had other problems in that one.
OTOH, though much better thrower, TS just could not process info quickly enough to get the ball out, nor did he have good pocket presence (that can change like it has with JM, whose poise in the pocket was terrible last year and though still not great, it has improved dramatically). Sometimes he had little time to throw, other times he had enough time but just seemed to freeze. Also, his athleticism was not as good as I had expected - just OK. He threw 2 good passes, 45 and 14 yds and threw 7 other passes, hitting 3 dump-offs or short passes for a total of 14 yds. He also hit a nice slant vs MTSU. That is a small sample size, so IMO, it's unfair to make an overall judgment on him. Some saw promise and others, me included, saw little to think he should unseat JM at this point.
But if the coaches had chosen him that would be fine with me, though I thought JM looked better from what I had seen, warts and all, some of which he still has. (JM has improved in other areas, especially hitting a number of intermediate passes, which he has done all along, though some insist they haven't seen them. But it's clear he has. He was 5-5 vs MSU on intermediate throws. Also, he scans the field now. True, he's still not quick but he's getting quicker. He's always stayed in the pocket some, as well as occasionally even climbing the pocket.)
Other than Haynes, this Alabama team only has decent RBs. Nothing special, though Jase is smart and has good top-end speed. But they are JAG type RBs. So, having a player like Milroe to supplement the OK running game with a long-ball running threat and a good deep ball threat is a needed component in this offense that TB nor TS are able to provide.
If JM flops (flopping doesn't mean making a mistake - Tua, Mac, Bryce, Tom Brady made them every game) at some point and CNS wants to go with someone else, fine with me. I just want to support whoever is the Bama QB and not nitpick every conceivable perceived shortcoming. Coker, with Henry, Ridley, Stewart and a Moore award winning OL) held the ball too long and threw ints at a rate in the same ballpark as JM (2.0 vs 3.4, which will likely improve by year end). There was the occasional grumbling but nothing compared to the vitriol (not all critics are vitriolic) that has been leveled by some fans towards JM.
