Alabama has been the king of college football for what feels like a decade. Alabama has looked bigger, faster, stronger, and angrier than their opponents since Nick Saban showed up in Tuscaloosa. Alabama has been a dominant program but I don’t think people realize that the Tide has unlocked a new level of greatness. Nick Saban was winning but he achieved greatness with guys like A.J. McCarron, Blake Sims, Jake Coker, and Greg McElroy under center. Hell, people honestly believed Jalen Hurts was responsible for leading the Tide to a 26-2 stretch!
The biggest controversy surrounding Bama this year with the quarterback battle between Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa. However, I tried to warn people a few weeks ago… this was never a quarterback battle. The gap between Tua and Jalen is wider than the grand canyon. Saban can say whatever he wants but Tua is the next left-handed Russell Wilson. Jalen Hurts is a glorified fullback that throws a worse ball than Tim Tebow. The only thing playing Hurts accomplishes is hurting Tagovailoa’s development. The story that no one is talking about is why Jalen Hurts won’t just transfer to Florida Atlantic?
You can feel bad for Jalen Hurts all you want but that’s just a bad opinion. What do you expect at a school like Alabama? If you decide to attend the University of Alabama to play football you should expect there to be 20 future NFL guys at your position that you have to beat out. There’s an NFL player in front of you and there’s an NFL player behind you. Alvin Kamara who is a top 5 running back in the NFL and was literally the 5th string running back on the depth chart at Alabama. He transferred to Tennessee and figured it out. If you’re talented, you’re going to find a way to make it. Hurts is not an NFL player in any shape of the word unless he somehow transforms into a successful running back in an hour.
Can we just end the quarterback battle now? It’s been a joke for two years now how Tagovailoa barely played a year ago. Tagovailoa won the Elite 11 in high school and was the number one quarterback recruit for a reason. The guy is special and does things you flat out can’t teach. You know how Russell Wilson just does that thing where you scream……No, No, No, No……YES! Tua is the left-handed version of that. I would be shocked if he wasn’t a first-round pick in 2020. Can we just stop pretending that Hurts is even on the same stratosphere? In his first real start, Tua completed 75 percent of his throws averaging over 14 yards per pass on 16 attempts. Hurts could never come close to those numbers in any game he plays.
If you’re Jalen Hurts, I think you need to really start pondering your future. If you’re unfamiliar with the transfer rules in college football then pay attention. If Hurts plays in four or fewer games, then he can technically redshirt the season. Hurts is also scheduled to graduate this year qualifying him to be a graduate transfer. Playing in four or fewer games would let Hurts play college football for two more years. Playing in five or more games would only allow Hurts to play one more year. In reality, Saban isn’t doing right by Hurts playing him in a handful of snaps in every game.
Despite the craziness at Ohio State, you have to give Urban Meyer for getting the quarterback thing right this year. He made it no secret that Dwayne Haskins was going to be the starting quarterback (a player who I named as a sleeper to watch in the NFL) this year. He did right by Joe Burrow letting him transfer to a power five school as a graduate transfer. Burrow is getting an opportunity to play for LSU, a school who couldn’t be more desperate for a quarterback. At the end of the day, don’t you want to do right by the kid as a coach, especially in a sport where the athlete doesn’t get paid?
Isn’t the best landing spot for Jalen Hurts to get play for Lane Kiffin at Florida Atlantic? Lane Kiffin was part of the reason Hurts found so much success as a true freshman with the Tide. 23 touchdowns and 9 picks as a true Freshman truly are miracle numbers considering the talent level. Kiffin is a really smart play caller that can get the most out of Hurts and he would actually get to contribute for a team that needs him. Kiffin is building a real program here after an 11-3 conference championship season. Florida Atlantic only won 9 games the previous three years prior to Kiffin.
If you really think about, why isn’t Hurts trying to make his next move? Florida Atlantic just makes a whole lot of sense.
