With days before A-Day , Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer made it clear: The Crimson Tide will not have a starting quarterback named at the end of spring practice.
With Ty Simpson , Austin Mack and Keelon Russell each competing for reps at quarterback, DeBoer said on an appearance on "The Game with Ryan Fowler" on Tide 100.9 FM that each is "getting better, which is what you hope and need and expect."
"For us, people want to know about a decision and things like that, for us, we don't feel like they are to the point where there is separation, where there is a feeling that they have hit," DeBoer said. "I think it would be pretty foolish for us to make a decision right now. We have plenty of time still to work through it, let these guys continue to work through the summer. Obviously, that takes us into fall camp where they will get some more reps. They are all three very talented and love the direction they are going."
Simpson has the most experience of any Alabama quarterback with 50 career pass attempts. Mack has the only collegiate touchdown in the room, while Russell is the highest-rated Alabama quarterback signee since Bryce Young .
"We're just going to let these guys continue to compete," DeBoer said. "They do it in a healthy way. They're there for each other but they are also competing."
While DeBoer has three options, he said they are all similar enough to where Alabama will not change "who we are, what our philosophy is" in the fall.
But DeBoer knows exactly what he wants out of a quarterback.
"We want that playmaker ... I don't want just a game manager out there," DeBoer said. "If we're going to win at the level we want to win at, we want a guy that is going to produce, make the big plays."
Alabama will end its spring practice slate at noon Saturday with its annual A-Day spring game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
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: Kalen DeBoer shares Alabama football quarterback update before A-Day
