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The Tuscaloosa News
How did Alabama football QB Keelon Russell do at A-Day 2025? What we saw
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- How did Alabama football QB Keelon Russell do at A-Day 2025? What we saw
When Keelon Russell took the field at Alabama football A-Day Saturday , it didn't take long for him to have a "welcome to college football" moment.
On his first throw during the set of 11-on-11 drills that started the Crimson Tide's spring game, Russell sat four-to-five seconds in the pocket looking for an open receiver. He threw across the middle of the field and instead connected with true freshman safety Ivan Taylor for the practice session's first interception.
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Russell and the rest of the Alabama quarterbacks quickly went to offense-only reps, where he worked with both Mack and Simpson, standing next to one another and going through go-route reps with wide receivers. Russell's medium-to-deep pass attempts stacked up with the other veterans.
Russell later found Jaylen Mbakwe on a deep route to the middle of the field, where he hit the receiver in stride, and later found freshman Derek Meadows for a score.
While Simpson and Mack both worked with the first team offense, Russell's work came with the second- and third-team, which remains consistent from where DeBoer said the quarterback battle stood.
Russell did not get a set of reps in the final live periods.
Russell is not just any Alabama quarterback signee. He's the highest-rated Crimson Tide quarterback since Bryce Young , joining the roster as the No. 2 quarterback and No. 2 player in the 2025 recruiting class per 247Sports' composite rankings.
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Russell is a quarterback who is still learning, still growing, Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama's second spring scrimmage. But he's a prospect who is already turning heads.
"He's killing it, doing a great job," DeBoer said April 4. "You can see, when he's out there, he's getting more and more comfortable moving the ball down the field. When there's a throw to be made, he'll make the throw, that's for sure."
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Keelon Russell A-Day performance: How Alabama football QB did
