I'd be really surprised if Hurts stays at Alabama, and despite my unwavering support of him I question if sticking around would be helpful long-term. Either way you look at it, there's max one year of Hurts playing left.
He's had a brilliant career at Alabama. He's #7 in passing yards, tied for #2 in passing TDs (with Tua!), #3 in total yards, and #2 in total TDs. That's pretty amazing for a guy that got almost all his playing time as a true freshman and sophomore. But... I just don't see a future at Alabama that makes much sense.
If he redshirts next year, it would have to be with the understanding that he's ready to go in case of emergency. Well, how do you keep him fresh and ready to go if you're sitting him? Despite being injured last year he still played in 10 games before he came into the Georgia game. If you limit that to 4 games, it's hard to imagine he'd be as ready.
Then there's practice reps. Do you tell the other 4 scholarship quarterbacks behind him they have to give up their reps so Hurts can be ready just in case? Do you also tell them they have to wait around to have a QB battle with a 5th year senior?
There's no question in my mind that Jalen Hurts as a 5th year senior has the potential to be a fantastic quarterback. I'm talking Heisman trophy fantastic, the potential is there. There's very real potential for him to put up one of the all time great seasons at Alabama if he did stay. However, there's just so many variables and so many little things that would be required to get from here to there that I'm not completely sure it is worth it.