Nick Saban's thoughts on four contenders in Alabama QB battle

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama head coach Nick Saban spoke to reporters nine times from the start of preseason camp on Aug. 3 to his final press conference before the Crimson Tide’s 2023 season opener on Wednesday evening. He has talked at length about the quarterback position, expressing his desire for a player to emerge and “force me to play you” while also reiterating the Game 1 starter won’t necessarily be the first-teamer for the entire campaign.

Leading up to the first contest of the season, Saban has been asked specifically about the four quarterbacks who appear to be candidates in the ongoing competition. Below is everything that Saban said about all four of them with two days before Alabama kicks off a new season.

Jalen Milroe
– Date of quote: Aug. 28

“I think Jalen has made a significant amount of improvement. I think he’s more comfortable in the pocket. I think that he has more confidence in the way he executes and the way he plays. He’s been more consistent in the way he’s played, and I think that’s gonna be the key of the drill for him to be able to maintain that consistency in every practice so that he is developing the kind of habits that are gonna carry over in the game and help him be successful.”

Ty Simpson
– Date of quote: Aug. 30

“Ty has done a really good job. I think all the quarterbacks have made significant improvement. I think Ty has made improvement. I think one of the hardest things to not get involved with is to be outcome-oriented and show your emotions when things don’t go exactly like you’d want them to. And that’s one of the things that I think has helped all of our quarterbacks, especially Ty, improve on. Mistakes are opportunities to learn, get better, grow and not get disappointed or frustrated in terms of how it affects the next play. And that’s something that he’s done a really good job of, and I think it’s impacted his execution in a really positive way.”

Tyler Buchner
– Date of quote: Aug 3.

“Tommy (Rees) knew the guy better than anybody could know him. I mean, he coached him for a couple years. The guy was injured last year, so he didn’t get as much experience. I think he started two games and played fairly well, so we got the opportunity to see that. But Tommy knows him better than anybody else could. I think you always know a player when you coach them. You know what his strengths are. You know what he needs to improve on. 

“I still think that he’s probably getting comfortable with the system. There’s some new terminology in it, and I think he’s probably still getting comfortable with the players around him because the other guys have been with those guys a little more. But I do think there’s really good competition at the position.”

Dylan Lonergan
– Date of quote: Aug. 19

“He’s done really well. He shows great ability, great potential. I think that the thing that he needs is experience, and everybody says, ‘Well, what’s experience? What’s your ability to self-assess?’ I have a better ability to self-assess right now than when I was 18, I don’t know about you guys, aight. So how do you learn how to do that? Through experience. You have experiences, you make mistakes, you mess up. You say, ‘Well, I’m not gonna do that again.’ And that’s how you learn and progress. He’s a talented guy and certainly a guy that we wanna continue to try to develop. But he’s done a nice job so far in camp.”

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