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Alabama QBs in 2024

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JohnD

All-SEC
Dec 22, 2003
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Ledsteplin said:
The senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine had this to say about Jalen after watching him in practice.
"-Jalen Milroe is ‘most definitely’ taking that next step as a true quarterback, per sources."
“I’m telling you right now, Milroe has made the Jalen Hurts transition,” sources said. “He is truly elite now.” I guess we find out soon enough. I'm not sure who actually said all that.
Click to expand...
That ends the QB debate, then.
 
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gtgilbert

All-American
Aug 12, 2011
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RollTide_HTTR said:
Sure. My point is that I think based on what DeBoer has said, he does think Milroe is a QB. He called him the headliner. He didn't have to say that he could have been more vague if he wanted. Also I think we've seen some movement at CB with Hurley being moved down for Brown IIRC. But I might be confused there. It also would make sense to be slower in moving QBs around.

I am not saying he loves Milroe as his starter or will start him. But I don't think its too early to say DeBoer thinks Milroe is a QB.
Click to expand...
I get what you are saying, and am not familiar with that exact comment and the context in which it was made, but I think what others are referring to is that a majority of the time, the media is asking specifically about Milroe when DeBoer makes these statements. it's most often - "How is Milroe doing with learning the new system" or something like that. It's almost never more generic questions about "how is the QB room progressing". So when asked specifically about JM, he answers. I also think he's trying to build all of them up, so isn't going to say anything bad, and is going to go out of his way to try to increase their confidence instead of decrease it. Interestingly, often when asked about Milroe, he seems to go out of his way to talk about the entire QB room as well.

Saban did the same thing in talking about the progress they all made and how hard they were working and so forth, but we know now that Saban and the staff told both Milroe and Simpson in their end of spring 1-1 meetings that they were not where they needed to be and that the team would be looking at transfers and would help either of them transfer out if they wanted to.

I'd not say Milroe isn't a QB like some have, but the question is can he develop to be a good QB? No one knows at this point, really. The past body of work isn't that great. His year as a starter had the lowest overall offensive output in the last 10+ years, and the second lowest passing yardage (behind only Hurts), but it's a new era, with a new approach and a new scheme with new coaches and hopefully JM gets a handle on the areas he needs to develop.

There's a coaching adage that changing motor behavior has to be done in the offseason and it takes 60 reps a day, for 60 straight days of just that one thing to have any chance to stick.

the really hard part that I don't think most people realize is that OUR (or any) staff is pretty limited in what they can do to help JM in his development. During spring, the coaches can't spend extra time with any players - there is a limit per week that players are allowed to be 'coached' and that's consumed with team practices. Once spring is over, the on field coaches are not allowed to work directly with ANY players (JM included) until summer camp starts. There is allowable time for meetings and such but even that is very limited. There is no on-field, with equipment (which means a ball) training allowed with or under the supervision of the team coaches. Our coaches can really just tell a player: here are the 5 things you need to improve before summer. I guess a player might be able to video stuff and have a coach watch it and provide feedback. Strength and conditioning can be supervised, but again, no on field and no 'football equipment' can be used. That means most of the development and progress required will be on JM and/or whatever private coach he works with. We know he's more than willing to put in the work, but he's been doing that, with other private coaches, for years without much progress in some really key areas.

IMHO, the biggest thing JM must do, is do everything faster. When you watch him compared to other QBs, he's slower at all the steps from snap to release. he's slower in his drop steps, he's slower getting the ball into position, he's slower at getting his feet set correct and his body aligned - slower at just about everything except the actual release (from pull back to release) which isn't that bad (this isn't just an opinion, I've stopwatched it) and it's literally on every throw we see in practice and I think why he had the slowest snap to throw time in FBS last year according to PFF. That seems to be the root of everything since if he's not in the right position and alignment on time and in sync with the routes, he's not going to be in a position to make the throw on time (i.e. looks like he missed a read, etc). Again, just my opinion, but he needs a coach, or a player, or friend or whatever, who will stand there with a stop watch and time snap-to-release for every rep he takes when he's working on his own and if it's not less than 2 seconds, it doesn't count and JM doesn't stop until he gets 60 reps with reasonably correct drop steps, ball positioning, foot positioning and body positioning etc that day and he does that for 60 days straight.
 
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G

gtgilbert

All-American
Aug 12, 2011
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Ledsteplin said:
The senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine had this to say about Jalen after watching him in practice.
"-Jalen Milroe is ‘most definitely’ taking that next step as a true quarterback, per sources."
“I’m telling you right now, Milroe has made the Jalen Hurts transition,” sources said. “He is truly elite now.” I guess we find out soon enough. I'm not sure who actually said all that.
Click to expand...
TDA is the least credible source on just about everything. When you look up "don't believe what you read on the internet", it should have a reference to TDA.
 
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RollTide_HTTR

Hall of Fame
Feb 22, 2017
10,014
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gtgilbert said:
I get what you are saying, and am not familiar with that exact comment and the context in which it was made, but I think what others are referring to is that a majority of the time, the media is asking specifically about Milroe when DeBoer makes these statements. it's most often - "How is Milroe doing with learning the new system" or something like that. It's almost never more generic questions about "how is the QB room progressing". So when asked specifically about JM, he answers. I also think he's trying to build all of them up, so isn't going to say anything bad, and is going to go out of his way to try to increase their confidence instead of decrease it. Interestingly, often when asked about Milroe, he seems to go out of his way to talk about the entire QB room as well.

Saban did the same thing in talking about the progress they all made and how hard they were working and so forth, but we know now that Saban and the staff told both Milroe and Simpson in their end of spring 1-1 meetings that they were not where they needed to be and that the team would be looking at transfers and would help either of them transfer out if they wanted to.

I'd not say Milroe isn't a QB like some have, but the question is can he develop to be a good QB? No one knows at this point, really. The past body of work isn't that great. His year as a starter had the lowest overall offensive output in the last 10+ years, and the second lowest passing yardage (behind only Hurts), but it's a new era, with a new approach and a new scheme with new coaches and hopefully JM gets a handle on the areas he needs to develop.

There's a coaching adage that changing motor behavior has to be done in the offseason and it takes 60 reps a day, for 60 straight days of just that one thing to have any chance to stick.

the really hard part that I don't think most people realize is that OUR (or any) staff is pretty limited in what they can do to help JM in his development. During spring, the coaches can't spend extra time with any players - there is a limit per week that players are allowed to be 'coached' and that's consumed with team practices. Once spring is over, the on field coaches are not allowed to work directly with ANY players (JM included) until summer camp starts. There is allowable time for meetings and such but even that is very limited. There is no on-field, with equipment (which means a ball) training allowed with or under the supervision of the team coaches. Our coaches can really just tell a player: here are the 5 things you need to improve before summer. I guess a player might be able to video stuff and have a coach watch it and provide feedback. Strength and conditioning can be supervised, but again, no on field and no 'football equipment' can be used. That means most of the development and progress required will be on JM and/or whatever private coach he works with. We know he's more than willing to put in the work, but he's been doing that, with other private coaches, for years without much progress in some really key areas.

IMHO, the biggest thing JM must do, is do everything faster. When you watch him compared to other QBs, he's slower at all the steps from snap to release. he's slower in his drop steps, he's slower getting the ball into position, he's slower at getting his feet set correct and his body aligned - slower at just about everything except the actual release (from pull back to release) which isn't that bad (this isn't just an opinion, I've stopwatched it) and it's literally on every throw we see in practice and I think why he had the slowest snap to throw time in FBS last year according to PFF. That seems to be the root of everything since if he's not in the right position and alignment on time and in sync with the routes, he's not going to be in a position to make the throw on time (i.e. looks like he missed a read, etc). Again, just my opinion, but he needs a coach, or a player, or friend or whatever, who will stand there with a stop watch and time snap-to-release for every rep he takes when he's working on his own and if it's not less than 2 seconds, it doesn't count and JM doesn't stop until he gets 60 reps with reasonably correct drop steps, ball positioning, foot positioning and body positioning etc that day and he does that for 60 days straight.
Click to expand...
I think this is completely fair and I'd agree with most of it. Again I'm not some massive Milroe fan at all. I think I've said on here I'd be surprised if Milroe was the final choice at QB. My issue is when people are lazy in their criticism and take anything positive about Milroe as a negative like they are panicking that he might actually be the QB. That's silly. We should want all of our QBs to be working hard and improving.

That said I'm also not going to pretend like I know anything for sure.

Also, I think work ethic and character is incredibly underrated when it comes to who will succeed in sports but especially at the QB position. Is it possible for Milroe to become great even with all that hard work? Idk. But I'm not going to count him completely out when he clearly seems to want it badly and is willing to put in the work to improve himself. The fact that coaches only get limited time with players only increases the importance of the individuals work ethic and desire to improve. And I think his work ethic should only push the other QBs in the room which is a great thing!

Again I don't really expect Milroe to be the guy. I just think some of the criticism of him is unfair and at times just lazy but that doesn't really apply to you.

Edit: oh and the media thing I get wanting to hear about other players but also I don't blame them. Milroe is the incumbent, publications like PFF have him on Heisman lists and top 10 returning QB lists. These guys don't really know anything more about football than most of us and in some cases probably less. So it's easy to just ask about Milroe. Not saying they shouldn't be asking about other players I just think it is what it is. Jimmy Stein from ON3 said they will try to ask Sheridan about other QBs though so that may be coming
 
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davefrat

Hall of Fame
Jun 4, 2002
6,134
5,970
282
Hopewell, VA
Ledsteplin said:
The senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine had this to say about Jalen after watching him in practice.
"-Jalen Milroe is ‘most definitely’ taking that next step as a true quarterback, per sources."
“I’m telling you right now, Milroe has made the Jalen Hurts transition,” sources said. “He is truly elite now.” I guess we find out soon enough. I'm not sure who actually said all that.
Click to expand...
After watching him in practice he cites third-party sources to confirm Jalen has improved?

That's like saying, "I went to see the new Matt Damon movie...people tell me it's pretty good."
 
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STONECOLDSABAN

STONECOLDSABAN

Hall of Fame
Sep 21, 2007
5,081
7,305
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Mobile, AL
Ledsteplin said:
The senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine had this to say about Jalen after watching him in practice.
"-Jalen Milroe is ‘most definitely’ taking that next step as a true quarterback, per sources."
“I’m telling you right now, Milroe has made the Jalen Hurts transition,” sources said. “He is truly elite now.” I guess we find out soon enough. I'm not sure who actually said all that.
Click to expand...
Touchdown Alabama and Stephen M. Smith have been a Milroe Cheerleader since last year. Look I don't care who wins the job if they can read Defenses and distribute the ball.

I am skeptical about Jalen Milroe making the "Jalen Hurts Leap" because what Jalen hurts did was very rare. My thing with Milroe his inability to give up on a play and know when it's time to take off. He had two plays where he threw the ball passed the line of scrimmage in the same game.
 
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TiderJack

TiderJack

Hall of Fame
Jul 9, 2010
13,172
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Inverness, AL
Ledsteplin said:
I have no reason to disbelieve it. Jalen was pretty good last year, leading the Tide to the playoffs. And I do think we see huge improvement on that.
Click to expand...
I do also. A lot of folks on here don't believe in improvement with another year of experience and confidence. I have said this multiple times but I do know I got better at my job in year two with another year of experience but some may have not have. I don't know if Jalen will be our starter but I do know just about everybody gets better at what they do with more experience.
 
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Cruloc

Cruloc

Hall of Fame
Sep 1, 2019
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TiderJack said:
I do also. A lot of folks on here don't believe in improvement with another year of experience and confidence. I have said this multiple times but I do know I got better at my job in year two with another year of experience but some may have not have. I don't know if Jalen will be our starter but I do know just about everybody gets better at what they do with more experience.
Click to expand...
I do enjoy the comments that a lot of folks don't believe in improvement with more experience.

No, it's more along the lines of the mountainous climb some might have to reach a level of improvement that's necessary.

Milroe would need a Burrow like metamorphosis. Could he do it, sure. Does he appear to have a good work ethic and practice well, sure. There are basic fundamentals he needs improvement on.

If Milroe improves slightly, that's a plus sure. To run a DeBoer offense that has its strengths where Milroe has his most glaring weakness??? That's the question.
 
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