As we move out of basketball season earlier than we wanted to, the natural thing to do seems to be to turn our attention to spring football and position battles among the Alabama Crimson Tide. Of course, the most widely publicized battle will be who is under-center for the Tide, and the not very surprising early reports are that Jalen Milroe has started working with the first team and Ty Simpson the second. Given the fact that Milroe was #2 and ahead of Simpson on the depth chart all season long last year, this was to be expected.
Alabama has yet to even play their first scrimmage yet, so the fact that Milroe seems to have the early edge, at least in terms of who is working with who, doesn’t really mean a whole lot. That being said, in the time that Milroe did play last season, including one start, he struggled with passing and accuracy, so his throw here to Ja’Corey Brooks has to be seen as encouraging if you’re an Alabama fan:
Iron sharpens Iron. @c7_brooks 🤜🤛@GaQMcK1 #RollTide pic.twitter.com/U1UMlyTCLV
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) March 30, 2023
Again, yes it’s just a throw in spring practice with no pressure or a pass rush. But the ball placement here in the back corner of the end zone to the best receiver on the team and not to mention over arguably the best corner in the nation in Kool-Aid McKninstry is enough to make a Tide fan smile. With the way Milroe struggled last season and Simpson’s status as a recruit, it almost seemed like a foregone conclusion that Simpson would be the starter as we entered spring. But this is a real, legitimate, QB battle, and it’s just getting started.