One thing I find interesting and a little perplexing is exactly how Alabama lost their reputation as a quarterback school. Not only did that not used to be the case, but Alabama had become the preeminent quarterback school at one point.
Consider Super Bowl XI. Kenny Stabler wins the Super Bowl. At that point, Alabama had 3 different quarterbacks who won the Super Bowl, 4 times. The pipeline kind of ended when Richard Todd was drafted in the first round in 1976. I'd think part of Alabama losing their position as the preeminent producer of NFL talent had a lot to do with the wishbone.
When you start running a system that, uses "a running back who can throw" it is not hard to see why the NFL quarterbacks dried up. Luck had a lot to do with it as well I suppose, but when Alabama did produce an NFL quarterback they peaked with guys like Jeff Rutledge, who had 10 NFL starts in a 7-year career. You have to go all the way to Brodie to have someone playing meaningful snaps, and he didn't play very many, he started 10 games as well. Then you have Greg McElroy and a glimmer of hope with AJ, who after being drafted in the fifth round has 5 starts in his career.
It might not be fair to consider Alabama snakebit at the position, even schools like Ohio State have had very limited quarterback success. Alabama remains one of two schools with three different quarterbacks with Super Bowl trophies. The 4 total wins have them tied for third place, behind only Michigan (Tom Brady) and Notre Dame, which has 5, 4 of which belong to Joe Montana.
I still found it irritating though, to see schools like Oklahoma and USC rack up high round draft picks and Heisman votes, while Alabama languished at the position. Now that Alabama has another Heisman trophy finalist (still no Heisman at the QB position as of yet), who is projected to go in the first round, the curse appears to have been lifted.
Alabama has taken a leap forward in evaluation, recruiting, and development of quarterbacks. The boost to reputation matters, on the recruiting end it means it will be easier to attract quarterbacks, and when an NFL team is more heavily invested in a quarterback, they are more inclined to have a better opportunity to prove themselves.
While we appear on the verge of affirmation of the turnaround, with Heisman finalist QBs in two of the past three years (three if you count Hurts), and what will likely be back to back first-round draft picks at the position, really I think the proof of this happened between the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Alabama had Mac Jones on the bench and some questions in terms of if Hurts was going to transfer. Looking for some depth Alabama got a commitment from Gardner Minshew. Hurts, Tua, and Minshew all went on to become Heisman trophy candidates. All three are currently starting in the NFL. Alabama, unable to produce an NFL starter at the position for years, nearly had all three of those guys on the team at one time.
It's been interesting to watch, and it's a testament to what Saban has built. If we go back a few years the question would be why Alabama keeps missing on quarterback and why they can't get a kicker. Now they have (another) Heisman finalist and a Lou Groza finalist. While I think Kiffin/Sark played an important role in the turnaround, I also have a hard time imagining it goes back to the way it was anytime soon.
Consider Super Bowl XI. Kenny Stabler wins the Super Bowl. At that point, Alabama had 3 different quarterbacks who won the Super Bowl, 4 times. The pipeline kind of ended when Richard Todd was drafted in the first round in 1976. I'd think part of Alabama losing their position as the preeminent producer of NFL talent had a lot to do with the wishbone.
When you start running a system that, uses "a running back who can throw" it is not hard to see why the NFL quarterbacks dried up. Luck had a lot to do with it as well I suppose, but when Alabama did produce an NFL quarterback they peaked with guys like Jeff Rutledge, who had 10 NFL starts in a 7-year career. You have to go all the way to Brodie to have someone playing meaningful snaps, and he didn't play very many, he started 10 games as well. Then you have Greg McElroy and a glimmer of hope with AJ, who after being drafted in the fifth round has 5 starts in his career.
It might not be fair to consider Alabama snakebit at the position, even schools like Ohio State have had very limited quarterback success. Alabama remains one of two schools with three different quarterbacks with Super Bowl trophies. The 4 total wins have them tied for third place, behind only Michigan (Tom Brady) and Notre Dame, which has 5, 4 of which belong to Joe Montana.
I still found it irritating though, to see schools like Oklahoma and USC rack up high round draft picks and Heisman votes, while Alabama languished at the position. Now that Alabama has another Heisman trophy finalist (still no Heisman at the QB position as of yet), who is projected to go in the first round, the curse appears to have been lifted.
Alabama has taken a leap forward in evaluation, recruiting, and development of quarterbacks. The boost to reputation matters, on the recruiting end it means it will be easier to attract quarterbacks, and when an NFL team is more heavily invested in a quarterback, they are more inclined to have a better opportunity to prove themselves.
While we appear on the verge of affirmation of the turnaround, with Heisman finalist QBs in two of the past three years (three if you count Hurts), and what will likely be back to back first-round draft picks at the position, really I think the proof of this happened between the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Alabama had Mac Jones on the bench and some questions in terms of if Hurts was going to transfer. Looking for some depth Alabama got a commitment from Gardner Minshew. Hurts, Tua, and Minshew all went on to become Heisman trophy candidates. All three are currently starting in the NFL. Alabama, unable to produce an NFL starter at the position for years, nearly had all three of those guys on the team at one time.
It's been interesting to watch, and it's a testament to what Saban has built. If we go back a few years the question would be why Alabama keeps missing on quarterback and why they can't get a kicker. Now they have (another) Heisman finalist and a Lou Groza finalist. While I think Kiffin/Sark played an important role in the turnaround, I also have a hard time imagining it goes back to the way it was anytime soon.
