WATCH: Greg McElroy explains why he believes Ty Simpson will be QB1
We are in the middle of the 2023 SEC media days taking place at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville, Tennessee.
On Wednesday, Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide will take center stage and the question that will spark the most discussion is certain to be about the ongoing quarterback competition between Jalen Milore, Ty Simpson, and Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner.
While in Nashville for this week’s festivities, former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy joined On3’s JD PicKell to discuss the competition and offered up some interesting thoughts on who he believes will eventually be named the starter in Tuscaloosa.
“I think Jalen Milroe is a tremendous talent,” McElroy said. “I think he’s a gifted football player. The explosiveness goes without saying. The guy’s ridiculous. Just get him the ball and see what he does with it. But there was a problem last year with turnovers and it wasn’t just the A&M game. Of 16 offensive turnovers for Alabama last year, he accounted for five of them. Having played in that offense and lived life under Nick Saban, he doesn’t forget those things very easily. So I think he’ll have to work his way back into the good graces when it comes to ball security.”
“Tyler Buchner’s been there for a very short period of time,” McElroy explained. “It’s very difficult to win the team in that short period of time. I remember back in 2014, Jake Coker transferred up from Florida State and he was supposed to be the guy. He just lost out to Jameis Winston in a great quarterback competition. Then there was this guy that was also on the team and Blake Sims had been there for four years and developed relationships with guys on the roster. So when it was close in fall camp, the guys naturally gravitated to the guy that they knew and that was Blake Sims. Ended up having a good year and Coker comes in in ’15 and wins a national championship, but he had to wait his turn for a year.
“So I think when I look at those two aspects and a guy like Ty Simpson, it’s not like he was a guy that was underrecruited or is an underachieving guy. He just hasn’t had the opportunity yet.”
McElroy certainly knows a thing or two about playing quarterback at Alabama under Nick Saban, and he definitely understands that coach Saban puts a premium on taking care of the football and managing the game.
.@GregMcElroy came through and dropped some knowledge on us regarding the Alabama QB situation and why he believes Ty Simpson will eventually be QB1 in Tuscaloosa
Full conversation:https://t.co/hljfYuNBl1 | @BOL_On3 pic.twitter.com/0CdHXx86xS
— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) July 18, 2023
Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for continuous coverage of the 2023 SEC media days and the ongoing quarterback competition in Tuscaloosa!
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