Ja'Corey Brooks shares what he's seen from both quarterbacks amid competition

Alabama will have no easy task in replacing 2021 Heisman Trophy winner and potential No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick Bryce Young, and the quarterback competition remains ongoing this spring.

Fighting for the job are redshirt sophomore Jalen Milroe and redshirt freshman Ty Simpson, while true freshmen Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan wait in the wings.

Receiver Ja’Corey Brooks has had a chance to work with both, and he noted some improvement from Simpson.

“I seen a lot of improvement from him,” Brooks said. “Also both quarterbacks, they both competing and hard-working and they getting the job done.”

Milroe, of course, was the quarterback who stepped in last season when Young went down with a shoulder injury in the middle of the season. He helped the team steady itself after a rough start in the Arkansas game, eventually guiding the team to a safe win.

He was a little less convincing in a subsequent game against Texas A&M, but Alabama did eventually come out with the win.

On the year, Milroe finished 31-of-53 passing for 297 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions. He also added 31 carries for 263 yards and a touchdown.

Milroe is an excellent runner, the real question is how he’ll fare as a passer. To that end, though, the receivers like Brooks are making sure to put in some extra time this spring on things like routes and timing.

“We always take extra time to build with both, all of them, not even just them first two,” Brooks said. “But every quarterback that we’ve got, because we’ve got to get the chemistry because you never know whose name could be called.”

While he didn’t get nearly as much burn as Milroe last season, Simpson did see some limited action. He finished 4-of-5 passing for 35 yards.

Whoever ends up winning the quarterback competition at Alabama will be someone with the background coming out of high school. All were elite prospects landed by the Crimson Tide.

Milroe ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 90 overall player in the country in the 2021 class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He was the No. 13 quarterback in the class.

Simpson was an even more highly-ranked prospect, a five-star who was the No. 25 overall player in the 2022 recruiting cycle. He was the No. 2 quarterback in his class, coming out off Martin, Tenn.

And though they’re both young, Holstein and Lonergan are both elite prospects in their own right.

Holstein checked in as the No. 84 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class. He was the No. 7 quarterback in the class, hailing from Zachary, La.

Lonergan was only a few spots behind in the quarterback rankings, checking in as the No. 13 quarterback in the class and the No. 160 overall prospect in the nation out of Snellville, Ga.