ESPN predicts who the Alabama Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback will be in 2026
The Alabama Crimson Tide will have a new starting quarterback in 2026.
The Alabama Crimson Tide will have a new starting quarterback in 2026 for the third consecutive season.
With Ty Simpson, who started all 15 games for Alabama in 2025, now off to the NFL, the Crimson Tide will turn to either rising redshirt junior Austin Mack or rising redshirt freshman Keelon Russell.
Mack is a former four-star recruit who started his career at Washington in 2023 with Kalen DeBoer (Mack followed DeBoer to Alabama in 2024). The California native has passed for 267 yards and three touchdowns in his career.
Russell, meanwhile, is a former five-star recruit who was rated as the No. 2 quarterback in the nation during the 2025 recruiting cycle. He passed for 143 yards and two touchdowns as a true freshman last season.
ESPN predicts who Alabama’s starting QB will be in 2026
ESPN’s Eli Lederman, Max Olson, and Adam Rittenberg took a shot at predicting who will start at quarterback for each Power-4 team in 2026.
And they think Alabama will go with the young phenom, predicting that Russell will win the starting job.
“Russell, ESPN’s No. 1 quarterback prospect in the 2025 cycle, arrived as the gem of Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer’s first signing class in Tuscaloosa,” noted ESPN. “Sitting behind starter Ty Simpson and backup Austin Mack, Russell completed 11 of his 15 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns across appearances in blowout wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Eastern Illinois. Russell has been viewed as the Crimson Tide’s quarterback of the future from the moment he stepped on campus last January. With Simpson headed to the NFL, he has a clear path to the starting job in 2026, provided Russell can edge Mack and the relative experience of the fourth-year passer.”
ESPN also noted that DeBoer may not name a starter until August.
“Mack beat out Russell for the backup job last summer, and if the program’s recent quarterback battles under DeBoer are any indication, the Crimson Tide might wait until late August to officially name a starter,” added ESPN’s trio of Lederman, Olson, and Rittenberg.
Going with a redshirt freshman quarterback with no starting experience is always a risk, but Russell may be too talented to keep off the field in 2026.
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