Joel Klatt sees major problems at Alabama extending beyond quarterback

At Alabama, the main conversation has been about the quarterback. Nick Saban appeared to put that to rest on Monday, naming Jalen Milroe the starter over Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson following Saturday’s struggles against USF.

But quarterback isn’t the only question Saban needs to answer, according to FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt.

“Alabama has major problems right now. Major problems,” Klatt said on The Joel Klatt Show. “And I don’t think they all revolve around the quarterback, by the way.”

When talking about the offense through the first three games, Saban has called Alabama’s problems unit-wide. It starts up front with the offensive line, which has allowed 12 sacks already — second-to-last in the SEC. Last week against USF, Buchner and Simpson combined to take five sacks.

There’s also the lack of talent at wide receiver. Alabama fans are used to a talented wide receiver room, from Jerry Jeudy to DeVonta Smith to Jameson Williams. This year’s group of receivers isn’t up to that caliber and doesn’t seem to have improved much from last year when Bryce Young became the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Those two areas are why Klatt isn’t placing the entire blame on Alabama’s quarterback. In fact, he doesn’t think the Crimson Tide have “bad” options at the position. They’re just dealing with other problems on the roster.

“The offensive line is playing terrible right now,” Klatt said. “So, it doesn’t really matter who is behind them because they’re not affording them any time whatsoever. They don’t have a great cast of wide receivers. What this does, it makes you appreciate even more the way Bryce Young played last year. You realize what was going on. They had some major holes last year, and Bryce Young covered them up because he was a great player. Well, now you don’t have a great player.

“You would have what I would call good players at quarterback. But not very good players around them. The offensive line is, it’s terrible right now. That’s just the bottom line. That’s the bottom line.”

Joel Klatt: Nick Saban used USF game as an ‘audition’ for Tyler Buchner, Ty Simpson at quarterback

During his Monday press conference, Saban declared Milroe the starter. But he didn’t play at all against USF after an up-and-down day against Texas in Week 2. Saban’s comments raised some eyebrows, including from Paul Finebaum on SportsCenter.

Klatt tried to dissect that situation and threw out a theory. He argued Saban didn’t need to see anything more from Milroe, which is why he sat him against Alabama’s final non-conference opponent. Instead, it was about how Buchner and Simpson would perform.

Clearly, Saban saw enough to put Milroe back atop the depth chart, and Klatt said that ended the “audition” process.

“Now, everyone’s wondering, ‘Well, who’s the quarterback? What’s going on?’ I firmly believe — firmly believe, whether he would admit it or not — I believe Nick Saban used Saturday as a pure audition,” Klatt said. “I believe he thought through his mind, ‘I know what Jalen Milroe is. I don’t have to see that anymore.’

“And he used Saturday as a way to evaluate Buchner and Simpson — Tyler Buchner, Ty Simpson. And, neither one of them played that great. I will admit, not all their fault. Not all their fault.”

Milroe got the starting nod just in time for SEC play. Alabama starts conference action against Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss on Saturday.