Alabama QB competition article

[gamersfuel]

the group that likes to point out Tua turning the ball over (which he really didnt do a lot of) fail to acknowledge the fumbles of Jalen.. There were even fumbles without getting hit, as well as fumbles on bad exchanges. we got lucky and recovered a lot of them. A better stat to look at would be fumbles/int vs TD's ratio if someone really wanted to try and use that argument. Also, Tua is equipped to offset a TO because he's going to account for 4+ TD's if he's playing the entire game.

Tua proved himself all year long, every chance he got, and had only 2 turnovers the whole year. Since you included Jalen's freshman year, I'd note that he turned over the ball 14 times that year, and fumbled several others that we were lucky enough to recover. He also quarterbacked an offense in the title game, loaded with elite players, that had only 2 series more than 5 plays. We went 3 and out so many times that the defense had to defend 99 plays vs a good offense. That'll get you beat and it did. Going 3 and out is a lot like a turnover.

Some folks claimed during the year that Tua hadn't proven himself under pressure. Coming in the 2nd half of a national title game, after the offense hadn't scored a single point and couldn't move the ball, was pressure, and he won for us the national title.

As for consistency, I've watched every game the last 2 years and have seen Hurts consistently struggle against good defenses and Tua play consistently well when given the chance.

Tua has 77 pass attempts, with 11 tds, and 2 turnovers. Hurts has thrown the ball 255 times with 17 tds and 1 turnover. Extrapolate Tua's attempts to Jalen's numbers, which is about 3.3 times as many, and his tds would be about 36 and turnovers would be about 6. Heck, round it up to 7. That's a sight better than we've been getting.

I'm not sure where the idea comes from that Tua is really bad about turning over the ball, but the stats prove it isn't really so. For those that might say it was from practices, I'd ask what is more important: practice, or real live games?

 

[gman4tide]

Jalen can do fine.
Tua is a special talent.
Tua will need to prove he can eliminate mistakes to take #1.
Jalen was 17 TDs and 1 INT, and guided the team to the National Championship as a true freshman and 2nd year. Can Tua have the consistency to do that, that had not been proven game in and game out. There will be a rotation until the first tough, tight game. Jalen starts, but lots of Tua. Barring injuries, of course. Tua needs to prove the consistency. One/Two inconsistent games, could cost season at QB.

I really dont get people throwing these stats out there? How many crappy 3 and outs did hurts lead the team on? How many started in plus territory? Some of those 3 and outs were worse than an interception. "Prove consistency"????? Jeebus, not sure how much more consistant he can be.

 

[PA Tide Fan]

Jalen can do fine.
Tua is a special talent.
Tua will need to prove he can eliminate mistakes to take #1.
Jalen was 17 TDs and 1 INT, and guided the team to the National Championship as a true freshman and 2nd year. Can Tua have the consistency to do that, that had not been proven game in and game out. There will be a rotation until the first tough, tight game. Jalen starts, but lots of Tua. Barring injuries, of course. Tua needs to prove the consistency. One/Two inconsistent games, could cost season at QB.

If that's the case then the rotation might continue until the 9th game of the season at LSU because that might be the first tough, tight game. I don't think it will take that long to determine a starter. I also think it's Jalen who needs to show consistency. Perhaps not consistency at ball security, but he needs to show consistency at finding the open receiver if he wants to be the starter.

 

[TUSCALOOSAHONOR]

At this point you may have 2 qbs transferring. Hurts and Jones. No way Bama keeps 6 qbs on the roster.

 

[rgw]

Hurts doesn't appear to have the same kind of ceiling as Tagovailoa. Hard to quantify that statement but I am skeptical that Hurts could even become a good college quarterback as a passer alone. I never expected him to become an NFL QB prospect but I suspected he'd become efficient enough at executing the typical things a defense will concede to an explosive QB runner. His sophomore year was a regression in scoring effectiveness through the air but an improvement in his ability to avoid turnovers. You never need more turnovers but there were several games in 2017 where just a little bit more juice in the passing game would've turned hard fought wins into resounding beatdowns (FSU, TAMU, and LSU) and possibly negate the only loss on the season. Heck, some of our beatdown wins kinda had this disjointed feel to them because Hurts was such a poor passer. I think Tennessee is a great example of it. Tennessee was not really trying that hard, the second half probably could've started with Tua if the first string had executed a bit better in the easy passes they were conceding but Hurts really didn't look good in the passing game until the first possession of the 2nd half w/ 3-4 RPOs.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Hurts doesn't appear to have the same kind of ceiling as Tagovailoa. Hard to quantify that statement but I am skeptical that Hurts could even become a good college quarterback as a passer alone. I never expected him to become an NFL QB prospect but I suspected he'd become efficient enough at executing the typical things a defense will concede to an explosive QB runner. His sophomore year was a regression in scoring effectiveness through the air but an improvement in his ability to avoid turnovers. You never need more turnovers but there were several games in 2017 where just a little bit more juice in the passing game would've turned hard fought wins into resounding beatdowns (FSU, TAMU, and LSU) and possibly negate the only loss on the season. Heck, some of our beatdown wins kinda had this disjointed feel to them because Hurts was such a poor passer. I think Tennessee is a great example of it. Tennessee was not really trying that hard, the second half probably could've started with Tua if the first string had executed a bit better in the easy passes they were conceding but Hurts really didn't look good in the passing game until the first possession of the 2nd half w/ 3-4 RPOs.

Can't really argue with most of this, but, the whole season, I had the feeling that Jalen could throw the ball better than he did. Time after time, a receiver would come open and Jalen would be looking right at him. Inside, I was screaming "Throw it, Jalen!" Instead, he'd pull the ball down and take off running. For whatever reason, he just has a hard time pulling the trigger, even when he knows he should...

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Can't really argue with most of this, but, the whole season, I had the feeling that Jalen could throw the ball better than he did. Time after time, a receiver would come open and Jalen would be looking right at him. Inside, I was screaming "Throw it, Jalen!" Instead, he'd pull the ball down and take off running. For whatever reason, he just has a hard time pulling the trigger, even when he knows he should...

I had the same feeling as well. I don't think it's the talent issue.. I think it's the between the ear issue.

 

[drwho]

I had the same feeling as well. I don't think it's the talent issue.. I think it's the between the ear issue.

I would agree that most of Jalen's performance issues are rooted more in the mental, rather than physical. That being said, Tua's ability to process information and make decisions quickly place him head and shoulders above Jalen at this point.

 

[BamaInBham]

Another instance that shows Jalen's mindset was one of his comments regarding the game-winning throw, "I couldn't believe the threw it." We know that Devonta was relatively wide open.

 

[B1GTide]

Another instance that shows Jalen's mindset was one of his comments regarding the game-winning throw, "I couldn't believe the threw it." We know that Devonta was relatively wide open.

For those of us who watch NFL football, he was wide open. But most college QBs cannot make that throw. They would put too much air under the ball and give the safety time to come over.

 

[Moro Creek]

I had the same feeling as well. I don't think it's the talent issue.. I think it's the between the ear issue.

Ding, ding. We have a winner.

 

[GrayTide]

At this point you may have 2 qbs transferring. Hurts and Jones. No way Bama keeps 6 qbs on the roster.

I thought the same thing and was going to make that comment, but obviously forgot, thanks for posting. If Jones leaves after the 2018 season, sits a year, he still has three years eligibility. That would leave Tua, Tua's brother, Tyson and Hatcher going into the fall of 2019. That assumes both Tyson and Taulia stick with their commitments next February.

 

[Crimson White]

I don't think it's entirely a mental thing with Jalen. When he does throw it he's very inconsistent. We all can remember some passes he made that totally missed a wide open receiver. Badly overthrowing a wide open Ridley in the endzone, first quarter of the title game, is just one example. He knows he's inconsistent so he's not confident, and so it becomes a mental thing.

 

[Crimson White]

I thought the same thing and was going to make that comment, but obviously forgot, thanks for posting. If Jones leaves after the 2018 season, sits a year, he still has three years eligibility. That would leave Tua, Tua's brother, Tyson and Hatcher going into the fall of 2019. That assumes both Tyson and Taulia stick with their commitments next February.

As previously noted, that's the way it is these days, and with the ncaa making it easier to transfer and play the next season (see Blake Barnett) it exacerbates the situation. If Jones continues to improve, yeah, I can see him transferring for playing time.

 

[CullmanTide]

I would agree that most of Jalen's performance issues are rooted more in the mental, rather than physical. That being said, Tua's ability to process information and make decisions quickly place him head and shoulders above Jalen at this point.

Tua's read and recognition reminds me of Dan Marino.

 

[uafan4life]

Some of you guys are making me want to root for Jalen to transfer somewhere else and win a National Championship there, just to spite you.

 

[B1GTide]

Some of you guys are making me want to root for Jalen to transfer somewhere else and win a National Championship there, just to spite you.

Like Ohio State? :biggrin2:

 

[uafan4life]

Like Ohio State? :biggrin2:

Urban would figure out a way to screw even that up. :biggrin2:

 

[CrimsonForce]

Like Ohio State? :biggrin2:

JT Barrett 2.0? Not sure how much of an upgrade over Barrett he would be..

 

[TUSCALOOSAHONOR]

Some of you guys are making me want to root for Jalen to transfer somewhere else and win a National Championship there, just to spite you.

I think the reason this is such a hard call is that everyone loves Jalen. He is a great team mate, a great leader, has a great personality. Everyone wants him to do great. We all want him to reach that next level. However no matter how much we pull for him he just seems unable to do so. I kind of think if he went to Louisville, where they play a more wide open offense, he'd excel.