Alabama QB competition article

gtowntide

All-American
Mar 1, 2011
4,288
1,092
187
Memphis,TN.
Jalen had a golden opportunity to take control in the spring. Tua was out with the injury so Jalen had to know that A-day was his best chance to shine. He failed and we saw the same Jalen from the last two years. I guess I don't understand what else anyone needs to see.
 

cindym

All-SEC
Oct 14, 2009
1,425
270
107
saraland, al
He did look bad but so did the o line he was running for his life on several passing plays but I'm with most of you here I believe Tua is the choice and my opinion doesn't just come from the championship game, the vandy and vols game stand out to me as well
 

bigjue24

Suspended
Dec 2, 2009
984
179
62
Okeechobee, FL
We cannot count on A day game....
Yes you can. It is a game like scrimmage, and should actually be easier for the QB to shine since he isn't a live target and the defense is always very vanilla. It is only one piece of information to evaluate, but it is one that you can evaluate. I will give you that Blake Sims looked bad in the A-day Game, but came on strong later as the season developed. The difference for me is we have a ton of data on Jalen, and I saw no improvement. If anything I thought he looked worse.
 

TomFromBama

Suspended
May 14, 2003
1,142
0
0
Lower Alabama
We can count on all the games vs good defenses when he struggled for 2 years.
Agreeing, and agreeing with others that A-Day is only a single data point, but it IS a data point and MUST be considered.

Jalen is a Great College QB, with only ONE Glaring weakness - he can't read defenses when he's under pressure. Now, we are talking about a skill that maybe 40-50 people in the WORLD possess - it's not "Common" and it's not something you'd expect to see in MOST QB's - heck, there are guys on NFL rosters who aren't particularly good at checking down to 2d and 3d reads.

But they also don't win Championships.

A-Day was a repeat of what we've seen in virtually EVERY Game over the past two years when Defenses WERE able to "Affect" our QB. It's going to be an issue to some degree or another in EVERY Game Jalen plays in for the rest of his college career.
 

tusks_n_raider

Hall of Fame
May 13, 2009
12,132
12,217
187
Mobile, AL
I've been looking at Jalen's gamelogs and highlights lately and have come to another conclusion.

It's not just the 'Great' Defenses he struggles with when it comes to reading defenses and making quick decisions and accurate throws.

He struggles period...

In 29 Games he has thrown for over 300 yards 1 time....ONE.

In 29 Games he has thrown for over 200 yards 7 times. 5 of those were in 2016 with CLK helping his stats with Pop-Passes.

So all of last season he went over 200 yards TWICE.

In 29 Games his Comp % has been UNDER 60% TWELVE times.

In 29 Games he has thrown 3 or more TD's only THREE times. That was Mercer, Chattanooga, and MSU.

He's just not a Passing threat at the QB position.

He underthrows deep balls, he airmail sails sideline throws to the right and left. His short passes are often low or behind the intended receiver.

He's just off target all over the place with WR's and TE's having to constantly make adjustments to find a way to catch passes. Guys are running wide open all over the place waving hands and he flinches and won't throw it.

Teams don't respect our Passing game with #2 and as brutal as it is to say and admit.... they shouldn't.

We've seen enough....more than enough to have a clear picture at this point about who is the better QB.

Let me put it this way.... if you are the opposing team who would you rather defend?
 

GrayTide

Hall of Fame
Nov 15, 2005
18,810
6,245
187
Greenbow, Alabama
It is obvious after two seasons every team we play knows exactly how to defend our offense and neutralize Hurts. The issue is that only two, maybe three teams, we play regularly have the talent, coaching and depth to pull this off. So with Hurts limitations at QB we can easily win 9 to 10 games every year, but probably no SEC or NC.
 

RedWave

All-SEC
Sep 26, 2000
1,579
3
0
Arlington, Tx
It is obvious after two seasons every team we play knows exactly how to defend our offense and neutralize Hurts. The issue is that only two, maybe three teams, we play regularly have the talent, coaching and depth to pull this off. So with Hurts limitations at QB we can easily win 9 to 10 games every year, but probably no SEC or NC.
I completely agree. But what you will hear some others who are more supportive of Jalen's position as starter is that he has already won an SEC championship and was one pick play away from winning and NC. Factually, they would be right, but not if you really look deeper into things.
 

DzynKingRTR

TideFans Legend
Dec 17, 2003
42,229
29,397
287
Vinings, ga., usa
I completely agree. But what you will hear some others who are more supportive of Jalen's position as starter is that he has already won an SEC championship and was one pick play away from winning and NC. Factually, they would be right, but not if you really look deeper into things.
They keep saying over and over "Jalen is 26-2 as a starter". While that is a true statement, it doesn't tell the whole story.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,947
15,955
282
Boone, NC
Yes you can. It is a game like scrimmage, and should actually be easier for the QB to shine since he isn't a live target and the defense is always very vanilla. It is only one piece of information to evaluate, but it is one that you can evaluate. I will give you that Blake Sims looked bad in the A-day Game, but came on strong later as the season developed. The difference for me is we have a ton of data on Jalen, and I saw no improvement. If anything I thought he looked worse.
Agree with this.

If Jalen was starting to mature as a passer, with the vanilla defense that is usually the norm in the 1st half of a A-day game, he should have LIT UP our defense.

Remember how Tua did this year before last? Then CNS turned up the defense and allowed them to give more looks and it affected Tua, with no collegiate experience.

But when Jalen had a big chance to make an impression, to put it mildly, be left a stain in his pants.

I personally don't see how Jalen plays ahead of Tua, but I also don't think we have much to worry about.
 

davefrat

Hall of Fame
Jun 4, 2002
5,172
3,893
282
Hopewell, VA
Agree with this.

If Jalen was starting to mature as a passer, with the vanilla defense that is usually the norm in the 1st half of a A-day game, he should have LIT UP our defense.

Remember how Tua did this year before last? Then CNS turned up the defense and allowed them to give more looks and it affected Tua, with no collegiate experience.

But when Jalen had a big chance to make an impression, to put it mildly, be left a stain in his pants.

I personally don't see how Jalen plays ahead of Tua, but I also don't think we have much to worry about.
honestly, to me his body language in the A day game was that of one who had essentially given up.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,947
15,955
282
Boone, NC
honestly, to me his body language in the A day game was that of one who had essentially given up.
Jalen is confident in one thing - his feet. It doesn't mean he's not a good person, but it doesn't translate into being a good QB.
 
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