Marvin Gentry, USA TODAY SPORTS
As long as Nick Saban is the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, there will be big expectations in Tuscaloosa. And despite the fact that the Tide lost their starting quarterback (Blake Sims), running back (T.J. Yeldon) and top wide receiver (Amari Cooper) from last season’s team, those expectations will still be placed on the 2015 Tide.
While that is probably not fair, Saban has built this program into a perennial powerhouse that is expected to win each season.
As Alabama concluded its spring practice on Saturday with its annual “A-Day” game, there is still one huge question looming over the Tide: who will be the starting quarterback this fall?
Five players entered the spring with a chance to win the position. But as practice ended on Saturday, it doesn’t appear that Saban and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin have made a choice. The reason is that none of the five players has pulled far enough ahead of the others to be named the starter.
The obvious choice at this point would be redshirt senior Jake Coker. The transfer, formerly of the Florida State Seminoles, had the best numbers in Saturday’s game, but he only completed half of his passes and did throw an interception.
Redshirt freshman David Cornwell continues to display a big arm, but he was intercepted twice on Saturday while throwing into double coverage.
Blake Barnett, Cooper Bateman and Alec Morris remain in the running for the position, but it doesn’t appear that any of those three are ready to start a game against an SEC opponent at this point.
If Alabama is to live up to the expectations in 2015, one of these five players needs to take control of the quarterback job. But that probably won’t happen until camp begins in the fall.
Tim Letcher is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
