Nick Saban says he plans to play multiple QBs vs Middle Tennessee State, knows who the starter will be

With less than 48 hours until Alabama opens the 2023 season, the question remains who the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback will be against Middle Tennessee State. Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson and Tyler Buchner have all been battling it out for the job, but Nick Saban has said the Week 1 starter might not be the long-term answer.

However, on his radio show Thursday night, he confirmed he knows who will take the first reps. Once again, though, he didn’t say who — although he reiterated they’ve all made “significant improvement.”

And even though he basically ruled out a two-quarterback system earlier in the offseason, Saban said his hope is to play multiple QBs in the season opener against MTSU. However, he once again made it clear whoever starts in Week 1 might not necessarily be the guy for Week 2 against Texas.

“All three guys have made significant improvement,” Saban told Eli Gold on Hey Coach and The Nick Saban Show. “Would like to play more than one guy in the game. So I’ve told guy that’s going to start the game that we want you to play well enough so that we have an opportunity to play other guys at the position because that’s important to us.

“But whoever starts the game, it’s not their job in perpetuity because they have to perform well. And because they don’t have a lot of experience, I think we’re all interested in seeing how they all perform.”

Nick Saban: ‘The life of a quarterback … depends on how they perform’

Perhaps more than any other position on the football field, results matter for a quarterback. That was basically Saban’s message when talking about how he’s evaluating the position this year.

Saban knows all eyes are going to be on who the starter will be when the season kicks off. But he doesn’t want fans to concern themselves too much with the Week 1 starter when the plan could change based on their performance.

“I do think one thing — and I know everybody’s going to be interested in this whole quarterback situation — is the quarterback who plays on Saturday, that’s the quarterback for Saturday,” Saban said. “The life of a quarterback, any quarterback, depends on how they perform.

“If a guy plays well, that’s what creates security at that position, and if you don’t play well — because the first thing everybody does when you have success, the quarterback gets a lot of credit. But also, when things don’t go well, the first guy they point at is the quarterback. So a guy’s got to understand that the way he performs is really, really important.”

What each Alabama QB brings to the table

Simpson arrived on campus last year as a freshman, bringing plenty of hype with him from the recruiting trial. A former five-star recruit, he was the No. 25-ranked player from the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He appeared in four games in 2022, completing four passes for 35 yards.

Simpson is battling against Milroe and Buchner, who both have plenty of experience at the collegiate level. Milroe was Bryce Young’s primary backup quarterback at Alabama a year ago and saw the field after he suffered an injury. Buchner appeared in 13 games at Notre Dame despite missing most of 2022 with an injury.

It’s an intriguing battle, and it got even more interesting in light of Saban’s decision not to provide a Week 1 depth chart. However, ESPN analyst and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy said the legendary coach likely had a good reason for not declaring a starter before opening day.