Jumbo Package: Kalen DeBoer speaks on QB battle, recruiting numbers

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Happy Gump Day, everyone. The topic du jour seems to be the Alabama quarterback race. Nick Kelly wrote about Austin Mack for yesterday’s “50 players” installment.

Mack was the first quarterback off the bench when Simpson had to leave the Rose Bowl with an injury. So, it wasn’t a surprise when Mack was usually the first quarterback through drills and scrimmages this offseason. Mack seemed to enter the 2026 quarterback competition at the front of the line.

Then A-Day happened and Russell caught everybody’s attention. Per unofficial AL.com stats for the scrimmage, Russell completed 20 of 32 for 229 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

Mack, meanwhile, finished 7 of 13 for 95 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Mack wasn’t fully healthy, per DeBoer who said he was “dinged up.” Still, it was clear Russell finished spring well.

Now what happens this summer?

Wyatt Fulton weighed in with some analysis of the position as well.

Keelon Russell is probably the most anticipated quarterback for the Crimson Tide since Bryce Young, signing with Alabama as a composite five-star quarterback from Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas, where he completed 66.7% of his passes for 4,177 yards and 55 touchdowns while also rushing for 321 yards and three scores.

Russell competed with Simpson and Mack for the Tide’s quarterback vacancy last season, but served as the Tide’s third-string quarterback, only appearing in two blowout games for the Crimson Tide. Despite his lack of reps, Russell flashed his playmaking in victories over ULM and Eastern Illinois, completing 73.3% of his passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball three times for 17 yards for the Crimson Tide last season.

The only opinion that matters, of course, is that of Kalen DeBoer. He spoke to reporters yesterday and gave no indication that anything is close to settled.

This time of year, players are the ones leading each other through offseason workouts/programs. Alabama is no different, even as the Crimson Tide goes through a quarterback battle. Keelon Russell and Austin Mack are fighting for the starting spot and attempting to get the entire roster ready for the 2026 campaign. Kalen DeBoer has to feel like Alabama is in a good spot there.

As for how this affects the ongoing contest between Russell and Mack, DeBoer says it doesn’t. He expects a “strong” competition to go all the way through fall practice.

“I think it’s everything,” DeBoer said via AL.com. “It’s not just about those practices. It’s about what you see each and every day. We’ve got two great leaders and so, it has to be that way. I know that the respect by the team is what it needs to be. They believe in these guys as quarterbacks on the field. They also love who these guys are as people off the field and they’re great teammates… The competition is strong right now and it’s going to be that way through the fall.”

DeBoer also heaped more praise on Ryan Coleman-Williams.

“From a leadership standpoint, he is out front and center with the team,” DeBoer said. “He’s a voice. He’s one that guys count on. He’s a great teammate. And then just as far as your question, just with the portal and him sticking around, man, I think he made that commitment when he came. He’s a guy that just stands by his word. I know that there’s a lot of opportunities that probably have come across his plate in one way or another.”

Many receivers would kill for a “down” year where they rack up nearly 700 yards receiving. For Ryan Coleman-Williams, that feels like just scratching the surface of his potential.

DeBoer is hopeful everything comes to fruition this fall. The potential is certainly there.

“I just appreciate who he is as a person and what he wants to do here at Alabama,” DeBoer said. “So looking forward to him building on what he’s done already in the spring and the summer leading into a great fall.”

There is a ton of optimism around Ryan. Perhaps year three will be his breakout.

Colin Gay wrote about the running backs.

In Kalen DeBoer’s ideal world, EJ Crowell would make an impact immediately as an Alabama freshman.

While Crowell spent the spring navigating a lower-body injury — attending 2026 A-Day on a medical scooter with a boot on his right foot — DeBoer told The Tuscaloosa News in May he wants Crowell to “get incorporated full-fledged with some urgency with as much as he can handle.”

When Crowell was healthy at Jackson High School, he was electric, needing only three seasons to accumulate more than 6,000 rushing yards and 91 rushing touchdowns.

Hunter De Siver examines the FSU rematch, which Alabama players should be frothing at the mouth over.

Castellanos’ collegiate eligibility exhausted at the end of the last season, and Ashton Daniels was named FSU’s next starting QB back in April. Daniels is a familiar name to Alabama, as he threw for 259 yards, a touchdown and an interception, plus logged 108 rushing yards on 23 carries in last year’s Iron Bowl for Auburn. Daniels played in four games for Auburn in 2025, logging 797 passing yards and 280 rushing yards, after spending the previous three seasons at Stanford, the latter two as a starter.

The Seminoles could have a 1A-1B scenario at running back between Texas transfer Quintrevion Wisner and sophomore Ousmane Kromah. After adding over 1,000 yards on the ground in 2024, Wisner went from 226 carries to 131 in 2025, as Texas used multiple carriers, including 91 from quarterback Arch Manning.

Last, Kalen doesn’t seem one bit worried about the recruiting numbers.

Speaking to reporters prior to his appearance at the annual First Light Community of Mobile Football Preview Dinner, DeBoer said he’s pleased with how things are going thus far. He also noted that there are a number of Alabama commitments that have not yet gone public.

“We’ve got a good number of guys,” DeBoer said. “Another big (visit) weekend this weekend. Expect some more. Some guys that haven’t announced that we are aware of will be with us. And so just getting the right guys. I mean, that’s really what it’s about, is getting the right players in. I think we did a good job of that the first couple years we’re here. It shows up in their playmaking on the football field.

These are different times in the recruiting world.

That’s about it for now. Have a great day.

Roll Tide.

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