Alabama Football: Projected post-spring 2019 depth chart
Quarterback
- Tua Tagovailoa (JR)
- Mac Jones (RS SO) OR Taulia Tagovailoa (FR)
- Paul Tyson (FR)
There’s no quarterback controversy this year. Despite his perceived struggles in the spring game and the sour ending to last season, Tua Tagovailoa is firmly entrenched as Alabama’s starting quarterback heading into the 2019 season.
Tagovailoa set numerous school records as a sophomore, flipping Alabama from a defensive juggernaut to an offensive powerhouse, which allowed the team to still achieve great success despite the defense being a shell of previous versions.
Tagovailoa threw for just under 4000 yards with 43 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. He posted the most efficient season from a quarterback in college football history, posting a 199.5 passer rating. He finished runner-up behind Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray in the Heisman Trophy voting and is the favorite to win the award as a junior.
Behind Tagovailoa, there’s much less certainty.
With Jalen Hurts off to Oklahoma, there’s no more luxury of having a seasoned starter as the backup if an injury happens. The margin of error left with Hurts, and now Alabama will hope that either Mac Jones or Tua’s younger brother Taulia will develop enough to hold the ship together in case of an injury.
Heading out of spring, Mac Jones is the leader in the clubhouse to be the backup. Jones turned in a strong spring, capped off by an excellent A-Day game. He shook off an early interception and completed 19-of-23 of his passes for 271 yards and a pair of touchdowns, helping lead the white team to victory. He played with confidence, and the offense was humming with him at the controls.
The younger Tagovailoa was not to be outdone, and he also shook off an early interception, completing 6-of-9 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. Taulia showed nice zip on his throws, and made the highlight of the game by scrambling to his left and throwing a dart to Jaylen Waddle in the endzone.
Jones knows the offense better, but Taulia would likely be a better fit to run the system Alabama’s going to want to implement. He already has a good feel for the RPO game, and his legs add another dynamic that Jones doesn’t have.
The best case scenario is that both Taulia and Paul Tyson are able to redshirt in 2019 as Tua stays healthy and takes all the meaningful snaps with Jones getting garbage time. Taulia will get some game experience anyway, coming in at the end of blowout victories so he can get some live-game action. As long as he doesn’t exceed four games, he’ll still be able to maintain his redshirt.