Per Aaron Suttles, Jalen to redshirt this year

Skeeterpop said:

Aaron has doubled down on his comments and still clames Jalen will redshirt. Guess we will know more this week if he continues to play.

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Aaron isn't always the most accurate source...

I think this upcoming game will end up telling us a lot. If it's a tight game, Jalen probably won't come in anyway. In which case his case for red shirting is bolstered. If Alabama can gain control and bad a big lead, then things might get interesting.

Crimson White said:

Saban may have to talk first with Taulia's Dad. That may be the new trend.

Jokes aside, I would never have believed it if somebody told me that Saban would allow a player or parents to dictate his status with the team. I would note that we still don't know if that's the case. Saban may, in fact, be calling their hand. I guess we'll know more by the 5th game.

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It's according to what you mean when you say dictate. CNS has revealed on more than one occasion (I remember Chris Black specifically, but there have been others) where CNS got together with the player and parents to discuss (a genuine discussion, not "here's how it's going to be...") whether the player should have surgery now or wait til after the year, play now or RS, etc, - matters related to the status of the player. IMO, it is showing proper consideration for the player and parents' child. Someone whom the coach has promised the parents during recruitment to care for. Something many coaches, certainly including CNS, take very seriously. It's not being controlled or dictated to by him/them. Of course there are boundaries and the coach sets them and the player has his prerogatives.

IMALOYAL1 said:

Hmm. Not sure I've ever seen this situation.

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All I mean is the obvious - Jalen can choose to play or not, no one can force him to play.

I think the notion that a quarterback who can’t throw downfield would be some sort of free agent is laughable to a point. Of course, you have a lot of programs who somehow think Hurts is the major reason for our last two seasons.

Chukker Veteran said:

It's hard to know what to believe. Yesterday I saw Hurts making passes he was incapable of making according to many on this board.

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Jalen made some very nice passes. He has it in him, but I'm afraid his first instinct is to pull it down and run. Last year it stifled our Running Backs.

RTR91 said:

Weird... Suttles also said Jalen would be QB1 in 2016 and took flack when Jalen wasn't first on the released depth chart. How'd that end up?

Everything Suttles has reported is exactly what I (along with other mods) have been told from Tuscaloosa.

But you guys keep on acting like he doesn't have a clue about things.

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With everything said and speculated on... It's been a time of uncertainty at QB.
Regardless of Jalen's decision... It's better to know than not to know

BamaInBham said:

I doubt he would do that or if he did that that is a major consideration for the JH camp.

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If Jalen Graduates in December, It's too late to pull his scholarship. (If he plans to Transfer)

I think Jalen will be the backup QB all year, graduate in December, and contribute as much as is reasonable to expect of such a talented #2 QB, if not more.

He has done nothing to show me that he would do anything other than honor his commitment, no matter what the media or his father say.

However, he will continue to be second guessed and talked about until after the postseason is over.

You can pull a scholly at any time if the player violates the agreement. Refusing to play would violate the agreement. Jalen would likely have to repay Alabama for this entire semester if Saban pushed it. And he might have to in order to set a clear precedent. This is the first season with this new rule. Coaches cannot allow players to use this rule against them or they could lose control of the locker room.

My point is, if Jalen stops playing it will be because Saban allowed it, not because Jalen decided. We will see, but I just don't see that happening.

cbi1972 said:

I think Jalen will be the backup QB all year, graduate in December, and contribute as much as is reasonable to expect of such a talented #2 QB, if not more.

He has done nothing to show me that he would do anything other than honor his commitment, no matter what the media or his father say.

However, he will continue to be second guessed and talked about until after the postseason is over.

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I agree with this. He will not be redshirted, remain Tua's backup, graduate in December, and transfer with one year of eligibility. Not what I would have recommended, but it is his decision.

B1GTide said:

You can pull a scholly at any time if the player violates the agreement. Refusing to play would violate the agreement. Jalen would likely have to repay Alabama for this entire semester if Saban pushed it. And he might have to in order to set a clear precedent. This is the first season with this new rule. Coaches cannot allow players to use this rule against them or they could lose control of the locker room.

My point is, if Jalen stops playing it will be because Saban allowed it, not because Jalen decided. We will see, but I just don't see that happening.

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Jalen can stop playing anytime he wants - there's nothing anyone can do about it, including Coach Saban. CNS may pull the scholarship, though I doubt he would, but he can't stop Jalen from preserving this year of eligibility by playing in 4 games or less. Jalen has full control over that. We simply disagree on this one. IMO, it's likely a non-issue because Jalen has stated all along that he is going to remain on the team this year. There has not been the slightest indication from him that he is going to do otherwise, only speculation based on his father's comments on guesses by some in the media. But we're all just guessing on that point.

BamaInBham said:

Jalen can stop playing anytime he wants - there's nothing anyone can do about it, including Coach Saban.

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We only disagree with the bolded. There may be nothing that anyone can do to force him to play, but there are a whole bunch of things that they can do "about it". There are endless punishments that can be meted out, up to the revocation of his scholarship. That is clearly something. Also, Saban could let everyone know how he feels about a decision made by Jalen if they are on opposing sides. He could do that without ever mentioning his name. That would also carry consequences.

Coaches cannot allow players to start dictating when they will or will not play. Saban will not allow it. No way, no how.

Bamabuzzard said:

I'm just thinking there's been a change of thinking from someone in this situation. Because there's noway this hasn't been discussed between Jalen and CNS. IMO, if CNS seriously thought Jalen wasn't going to play more than four games or if they had worked out a "deal". Then he would be getting Mac Jones as game ready as he possibly could. Yet here we are, two games in and Mac Jones has basically gotten zero meaningful snaps.

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Yeah. Could be that. His Dad hasn't said anything more about it either, at least publicly, so perhaps Jalen did decide that like you say. That Mac Jones isn't getting anything but hand it off mop up duty is perplexing if it isn't something like this.

Haven't posted in quite a while, but there's another possibility I've not seen mentioned. If JH does play in most or all games this year and transfers in December/January, he will still have a redshirt year available in which he could play up to 4 games.

Let's assume he transfers immediately following Alabama's last game. He could spend Spring and Fall camp learning the new offensive system and receiving more true "developmental" coaching as a quarterback. Then, toward the end of the season, he could take over for the last 4 games if he is clearly the best quarterback in practice. This would set things up to be "his" team the following year, and give him a full year to truly showcase his talents AFTER being developed more and fully grasping an offensive system.

To me, this actually makes the most sense if his goal is to play QB in the NFL. Another year of development would almost certainly give him a better shot than trying to rush things. After all - he's still young, and some quarterbacks are now playing at age 40 or so. If he were a RB, it would be different.

This would also be something that obviously CNS would agree to, as he has JH available to use all year as needed, and there is no confusion or angst about whether or not CNS should play him in a game. He's on the team, so he will play when called upon. Period. But next year, if JH and family sit down with a new coach and decide upon a path forward as I've described, it becomes manageable for his new team because everything is agreed to and the plan put in place before the transfer even takes place.

Jalen has a pristine reputation at Alabama and would benefit mightily by staying and playing as much as he could this season if he has no real aspirations for playing QB in the NFL. I could certainly see him coaching here one day.

And he could take his time studying depth charts at programs to which he would consider transferring. I wonder if it's permissible in that kind of situation for a coach at another program to talk to a player about what his program could offer, and what the depth chart may be. I mean, I'm not so naive to think it doesn't happen anyway, but this would be a fairly unique situation, though it may become less uncommon.

edit to say: Certainly not unique that a player may transfer, but that the current coach may be agreeable to allowing the player, #2 on the depth chart, to talk with other coaches about transferring. And I am not saying Saban absolutely is agreeable with it, but perhaps.

I want to ask everyone few questions:

1. Has Jalen ever said anything about wanting to play in NFL or head into Coaching?

2. Has Jalen ever said anything about wanting to redshirt this season?

3. has Jalen ever said anything about wanting to transfer after this season?

There is lot of assumptions out there about what Jalen wants to do with his life.

JustNeedMe81 said:

I want to ask everyone few questions:

1. Has Jalen ever said anything about wanting to play in NFL or head into Coaching?

2. Has Jalen ever said anything about wanting to redshirt this season?

3. has Jalen ever said anything about wanting to transfer after this season?

There is lot of assumptions out there about what Jalen wants to do with his life.

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1 - Does he have to? This one is obvious.
2 - Not to my knowledge. This is coming from Aaron Suttles at this point, not folks on this board.
3 - No, but some of his comments could easily be interpreted this way. He talks about graduating, not staying at Alabama through his eligibility.