Our audience—and Saban—weighs in on the SEC’s hottest conversation

With just six weeks left until kickoff, Alabama fans are getting a bit antsy about the quarterback situation—even though Nick Saban doesn’t seem worried.

Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson and Tyler Buchner are still competing for the starting quarterback position for the Crimson Tide. Whoever wins out will have big shoes to fill, as Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young has moved onto the NFL.

All eyes are on the Tide as we get closer to kickoff—and we’re all ears. We’ve asked who you think is going to be quarterback, and here’s what you said.

Our audience’s thoughts

According to our audience, Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson are neck-and-neck, with Ty Buchner trailing a bit. We polled audiences across LinkedIn and Instagram, and here’s the breakdown.

Jalen Milroe, the most seasoned of the three, leads the poll results from our audience. Our Instagram audience gave him 55% of the vote, and our LinkedIn audience gave him 39%—it seems he’s our audience’s best guess. The redshirt sophomore from Texas was Bryce Young’s backup last year, and he brought in 5 touchdowns and 297 yards total. His first career start versus Texas A&M was a close call, but he led the Tide to a 24-20 victory.

Ty Simpson, who we haven’t seen much of yet, is a close second to Milroe at 37% of the LinkedIn vote (but only 25% of the Instagram vote). Fans have gotten to see just 5 passes from Simpson, but they have high hopes for the Tennessee native. Coming out of high school, Simpson was in the top 5 quarterback recruits in the nation according to 247 Sports.

Tyler Buchner, the transfer from Notre Dame, came in third for our audience (18% from LinkedIn and 11% from Instagram)—and unsurprisingly so. We haven’t seen him in a crimson jersey yet, but he has made the competition for the starting quarterback position a bit stronger. Buchner showed lots of potential in the TaxSlayer Bowl versus South Carolina last year, but we’ll see if he surprises fans by getting the starting quarterback position at Alabama.

Saban’s latest comments

It seems Saban is unaffected by the pressure to choose a quarterback. At the SEC Media Days 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee this week, Saban didn’t give fans any hints.

“We have three guys that are competing at that position right now, and all those players are getting better. It’s important for us that all those players get better. I don’t think anybody has separated themselves to this point.”

Nick Saban, at the SEC Media Days 2023

He proceeded to make an analogy. The quarterback decision is like how his grandmother used to bake cakes. Young Saban would ask his grandmother, over and over, when the cake would be ready. She would explain that the cake would turn to mush if she took it out too early.

We got the message—the cake is still baking, and we’ll have to be patient for any answers.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t keep the conversation going. Speculations, guesses, theories—we want to hear them!

I’m intrigued by Greg McElroy’s two-quarterback suggestion, personally. What our your thoughts? Our LinkedIn poll is still open, and we’re all ears.

Want updates like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for our newsletter today.