Should Tua be redshirted?

BamaMoon

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And in response to Coach Saban's "policy" about not offering PT. Tua and his family had to make some decisions BEFORE deciding to uproot across the planet to Tuscaloosa.


I have a hard time believing Tua and his family put all their eggs in one basket and if Tua doesn't win the starting job this season he's leaving.

Yet on the other hand, I also have a hard time believing they moved "halfway around the world" only to have to watch their son ride the bench three years before playing.


To me the only two options that make moving across the planet worth it is:

*He wins the job and plays immediately

*If that doesn't happen he redshirts and pretty much is ensured being the starter for two years possibly three.



What are your thoughts on this Earle? You got a feel for this situation or maybe hear any rumblings?
That's a real good point about his family moving here...doubt a transfer would happen for at least a couple of years..regardless what happens.
 

bamacon

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Ask Kevin Sumlin about the pitfalls of making guarantees to recruits...

From what I've heard from both signees and their families it's CNS's honesty with them about that very topic that sells many of them on the Capstone. Sometimes the players are more mature about it than their families too, see Anthony Averett last year.
 

BamaMoon

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Ask Kevin Sumlin about the pitfalls of making guarantees to recruits...

From what I've heard from both signees and their families it's CNS's honesty with them about that very topic that sells many of them on the Capstone. Sometimes the players are more mature about it than their families too, see Anthony Averett last year.
Or Blake Barnett's dad??? :wink:
 

KrAzY3

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I think the best we can hope for is that Tua is the #2 QB if Jalen were to go down but have another QB take garbage time reps. But I don't see that happening.
Just remember the approach that CNS took with AJ in 2009...
For those unfamiliar, HTTR described what Saban did in 2009 (at least the latter portion). Not burning AJ's redshirt was a big deal, since he did after all go on to play as a fifth year senior.

To me the only two options that make moving across the planet worth it is:

*He wins the job and plays immediately

*If that doesn't happen he redshirts and pretty much is ensured being the starter for two years possibly three.
I know you're not asking me, and I know absolutely no inside info (which also means I can speculate all I want without spilling the beans, heh), but those two scenarios are what made the most sense to me as well. I was operating under the assumption that in spring they were kind of going with option A, but there really needs to be option B as well. The problem is who would play the Star Jackson role? If he's planning on transferring if he doesn't win the job, not redshirting really does him no harm, it might even help him, since he could use the redshirt year when he transfers. It's only if he plans on staying that burning the redshirt really becomes a problem for him. It seems to me that if he loses his redshirt this year, and doesn't catch Hurts (which seems terribly unlikely) he will end up being in an untenable situation.

Then again, there is always Matt Flynn and Matt Cassel. Flynn played only one year as the starter and still got his chance in the NFL. Cassel never actually started for USC, he barely played. He was still drafted and had a solid NFL career. If I'm Tua though, I'd really want those two guaranteed years (possibly 3) since it both gives me an out if somehow I don't land the starting job (to transfer elsewhere) and it also gives me a second season to display skills to NFL scouts. One year is just such a narrow window...
 
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WMack4Bama

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Not sure if it's already been stated, but I think the chances of him redshirting is slim, because (for reasons probably already mentioned), we're gonna have some games where he'll have to play for 3 reasons:

1) We'll be up by 4 TDs
2) We don't wanna get Jalen hurt (no pun intended)
3) Gotta get Tua some live bullets for 2 reasons (in the event that #2 happens and/or he's plug & play once Jalen moves on to the next level)
 

KrAzY3

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Not sure if it's already been stated, but I think the chances of him redshirting is slim, because (for reasons probably already mentioned), we're gonna have some games where he'll have to play for 3 reasons:

1) We'll be up by 4 TDs
2) We don't wanna get Jalen hurt (no pun intended)
3) Gotta get Tua some live bullets for 2 reasons (in the event that #2 happens and/or he's plug & play once Jalen moves on to the next level)
I suppose you'd know as much about this as anyone. What do you think about the possibility of a graduate transfer? I haven't heard so much as a peep about that in terms of any actual possibilities, so it seems unlikely but it also seems like it would solve most (but not all) of the issues we're discussing.
 

WMack4Bama

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I suppose you'd know as much about this as anyone. What do you think about the possibility of a graduate transfer? I haven't heard so much as a peep about that in terms of any actual possibilities, so it seems unlikely but it also seems like it would solve most (but not all) of the issues we're discussing.
I'd be incredibly surprised. I just posted over in the recruiting board, the emphasis right now on the fronts on both sides. I don't see how we'd use a scholarship on another QB.
 

Ole Man Dan

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No way should we Red Shirt Tua. He's pushing for playing time. Good chance he will not be here 4 years. The Pro's will be calling his name in a couple of years.

Better Idea would be to get Tua on the field early and often. Tua is only one play from being our starter. I hope nothing ever happens to Jalen or Tua. but we need Tua ready to strap on and play at a moments notice.
 

JustNeedMe81

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I suppose you'd know as much about this as anyone. What do you think about the possibility of a graduate transfer? I haven't heard so much as a peep about that in terms of any actual possibilities, so it seems unlikely but it also seems like it would solve most (but not all) of the issues we're discussing.
If we were taking a graduate transfer, we would probably know sometime in next few weeks since class starts on May 30th. I seriously doubt we'll take one in at this point, but either way, we want Tua to get some experience on the field because we do not have any veteran backup that can close the gap.. and plus why would a graduate transfer come to Alabama and be a backup?
 

JustNeedMe81

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No way should we Red Shirt Tua. He's pushing for playing time. Good chance he will not be here 4 years. The Pro's will be calling his name in a couple of years.

Better Idea would be to get Tua on the field early and often. Tua is only one play from being our starter. I hope nothing ever happens to Jalen or Tua. but we need Tua ready to strap on and play at a moments notice.
The last sentence sounds...... iffy LOL.
 

RTR91

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Given we didn't see any walk-on QBs such as Montana Murphy, I think it is pretty clear that Tagovailoa is going to be the backup quarterback and receive a fair number of snaps if we blow people out frequently.
Going by the team rosters released on Thursday, Montana was injured.

If we can find a graduate transfer, great. That doesn't seem likely, though. What guy wants to leave a current school to come here and not start? Plus, the scholarship numbers are very tight.

Working under the impression we don't get a transfer, Tua has to play. We can't play him like we did AJ in 2009. Star Jackson at least at a season in the system. Other than the walk-on's, no other QB has experience in case Jalen goes down. Therefore, Tua needs the reps to get adjusted to the college game instead of riding the bench in hopes of taking a RS to only be thrown into the TAMU game in October because Jalen is out several weeks.
 

Bamabuzzard

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No way should we Red Shirt Tua. He's pushing for playing time. Good chance he will not be here 4 years. The Pro's will be calling his name in a couple of years.

Better Idea would be to get Tua on the field early and often. Tua is only one play from being our starter. I hope nothing ever happens to Jalen or Tua. but we need Tua ready to strap on and play at a moments notice.
If he's sitting on the bench while Hurts plays out two more years his phone won't ring. Right now their eligibility is one year apart. Though he is a better natural passer than hurts, IMO, he's not an overall better athlete and not the better overall QB. So there is a good chance he doesn't beat Hurts out while they both are on campus. So unless the NFL is willing to take an enormous risk on a kid who's never started a game, was career college backup and is coming out as a junior. He probably needs to seriously consider red shirting or transferring. Because until it actually happens. I'm saying odds are he doesn't beat out Jalen Hurts.
 

CrimsonForce

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If he's sitting on the bench while Hurts plays out two more years his phone won't ring. Right now their eligibility is one year apart. Though he is a better natural passer than hurts, IMO, he's not an overall better athlete and not the better overall QB. So there is a good chance he doesn't beat Hurts out while they both are on campus. So unless the NFL is willing to take an enormous risk on a kid who's never started a game, was career college backup and is coming out as a junior. He probably needs to seriously consider red shirting or transferring. Because until it actually happens. I'm saying odds are he doesn't beat out Jalen Hurts.
Have you seen some of the QBs projected to be high draft picks this year? If Hurts continues to progress he could be a 1st/2nd round pick. Really depends on the strength of the QB class that year..
 
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JustNeedMe81

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Now, that brings up a question. Let's assume Tua serves as our backup QB during the whole time Hurts is at Alabama. Now, if Hurts stays 4 years and Tua transfer, who do we develop because we lose our experienced QBs. I think it's critical that we both get qbs some experience this year.. and maybe use redshirt later down the road?
 

WMack4Bama

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Blake Barnett will be one of the 1st QBs taken. I know people here have their misgivings about him or what have you, but the talent is there, and he'll put up big numbers at Arizona St. Also, Jacob Eason's raw talent will make scouts salivate and overlook his other shortcomings.

Lamar Jackson has a ways to go. Aside from his shortcomings as a decision-maker in the pocket, he will unfortunately be lumped in with Petrino's other QBs who have not been the best in the league (Brohm & Mallet just to name two).

Let's assume Hurts leave for NFL in 2019:
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2019/QB

Looking at it, Hurts can easily be top 3 QB in that class... I'm not counting Lamar Jackson and few others who could go in 2018....

He just need solid sophomore year and junior year and he should be able be ranked top 5 qbs.... Especially if he get his degree early.
 
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