Nick Saban: Tyler Buchner addition about adding competition to quarterback room

The Alabama football team added a big piece from the NCAA transfer portal this week when Notre Dame starting quarterback Tyler Buchner opted to commit to the Crimson Tide as his next destination.

Things didn’t go the way Buchner would have wanted in 2022, with an injury really derailing his season.

Things might just work out, though. Alabama has a plethora of talent but has a major question mark at quarterback, where it must replace likely first-round draft pick Bryce Young.

Nick Saban wasn’t in love with what he had at the position in the spring.

“Well we wanted to give our quarterbacks in our program every opportunity to win the job in spring practice,” Saban said. “We felt like we needed to add some competition in the room and Tyler was certainly a guy that was going to be the starter last year at Notre Dame, got injured, played the bowl game, played very well.”

Tyler Buchner doesn’t have a ton of experience beyond what existing Alabama quarterbacks Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson have.

He has gone just 77-of-118 passing for 949 yards, with six touchdowns and eight interceptions. He’s also rushed for seven touchdowns, showing some ability to get out of the pocket and continue plays with his legs.

That’ll be a quality he shares with Milroe, who is an elite athlete in his own right.

Milroe came in and rescued Alabama last season when Young was hurt, leading the team to wins against both Arkansas and Texas A&M while the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner was recovering. Milroe went 31-of-53 passing for 297 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions. He also ran for 263 yards and a touchdown.

Tyler Buchner is expected to push Milroe for the starting job, according to Saban.

“We thought he would add a lot of competition,” Saban said. “And we think he’s got the right kind of character and attitude to be a positive influence on our team.”

Before he enrolled at Notre Dame and eventually hit the NCAA transfer portal, Tyler Buchner was a four-star prospect and the No. 94 overall recruiting in the country in the 2021 recruiting class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.

He checked in as the No. 14 quarterback in the class and the No. 8 overall player in the state of California, hailing from La Jolla (Calif.) Helix.