Paul Finebaum discusses how Nick Saban has shown he can win without an elite quarterback

Nick Saban and Alabama are coming off a run of transcendent quarterbacks. The last four Alabama starters — Bryce Young, Mac Jones, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts — have all gone on to be NFL starters.

But Saban and the Crimson Tide have, over his tenure in Tuscaloosa, done just as well if not better when it’s been a less exciting talent under center. It’s a phenomenon ESPN’s Paul Finebaum dug into recently on “The Matt Barrie Show.“

“You call the usual suspects and say hey ‘What did the scrimmage look like Saturday?’ and they all go, ‘We don’t have a quarterback.’ And then you say that to one of these ‘Bama Bubbas from whatever county and he goes, ‘Well who cares?’ And they’re going to probably win that argument,” Finebaum said, joking about the current state of affairs.

Right now, Alabama is trying to sort out a starting quarterback, likely from a trio of quarterbacks with varying experience: Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson and Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner.

Finebaum said it’s quite possible one emerges, plays well and Alabama is once a bonafide playoff contender. But he noted they might be one anyways.

Nick Saban has appeared in nine national championship games — BCS or CFP — in his time at Alabama, winning six. The quarterbacks he has won national titles with: Greg McElroy (2009), AJ McCarron (2011, 2012), Jake Coker (2015), a combination of Hurts and Tagovailoa (2017) and then Jones (2020).

The starting quarterbacks in the three national title games that Saban lost: Hurts (2016), Tagovailoa (2018) and Bryce Young (2021).

Finebaum agreed with Barrie that there might be some credence to the idea that Saban and Alabama have more consistently achieved with slightly lesser quarterbacks, albeit amid a litany of other variables.

“In some ways they are, yeah,” Finebaum said. “I would probably take them to go to the playoffs right now with a shot at the championship.”

The fact that Alabama, without a clear starting quarterback or even leader in the clubhouse, is ranked in the Top 5 in the AP Poll and Coaches Poll is a testament to the program Saban has built, Finebaum said.

“Listen, without having any clear path to who the quarterback is, Alabama in the past two weeks, Matt, whatever it’s worth, has been ranked third and fourth preseason. And the best known commentator at ESPN, college football commentator Kirk Herbstreit picked them to win the national championship. So, again, that doesn’t really mean anything,” Finebaum said. “What’s interesting about Herbstreit, somebody sent me that last night, I responded back, I said, ‘There was a time when if you didn’t pick Alabama to win the national championship, it seemed outrageous. Now it almost seems outrageous to pick Alabama to win the national championship.’ That’s how quickly it has changed. But they’re still third and fourth in the respective polls.”