Keelon Russell has tools to be next great Alabama QB | Goodbread
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The competition Alabama football faced in Eastern Illinois, an FCS program that’s won only three games, was such that the Crimson Tide’s readiness to face archrival Auburn next week can’t be judged from it.
Line play can’t be judged from it.
Statistics can’t be judged from it either, so the topic of this dispatch − Crimson Tide quarterback-in-waiting Keelon Russell − can’t be sized up by his box score line. So ignore that he completed 7 of 9 passes for 78 yards in second-half action on Saturday, Nov. 22. Forget that he ran for 16 yards on two carries. We don’t need statistics, or a tougher opponent than EIU, to know this: Russell’s physical tools for the quarterback position are nothing short of phenomenal.
His release is strikingly quick, and that’s not going to change when he’s slinging passes against the Tennessees and the Auburns one day. The ball comes out of his hand with tightly-spiraled zip, and that’ll carry over against any competition. He’s elusive and more than athletic enough to be a rushing threat, and while SEC defenses are much faster and fiercer than the Panthers of EIU, it’s plain to see when Russell takes off that he’ll be problematic for any defense as a runner.
We’re talking about skills here, not performance, and Russell has them in spades.
It’s easy to see why Russell, a true freshman, was a five-star recruit and the prize of coach Kalen DeBoer’s 2025 signing class. He looks like he was born to play the position. Whether or not he’s good enough to be Alabama‘s quarterback in 2026, however, will come down to more than his dazzling physical traits.
He’ll have to make smart decisions under pressure, and that’s something EIU can’t prepare him for. He’ll have to protect the ball, and that’s a lot more difficult against SEC opponents, too. Those are measurements of performance, not skill, and like any quarterback, Russell will be an unknown in those regards until he’s quarterbacking in hotter fires.
What stands in his way? Starter Ty Simpson has a fifth year of NCAA eligibility at his disposal, but given that NFL scouts have taken a liking to him, his return would have to be considered questionable at best. Backup Austin Mack, who alternated with Russell throughout the second half against EIU, looked sharp in his own right. He ran for a 20-yard touchdown and completed all five of his passes, but as already noted, stats against FCS competition are essentially worthless.
A Russell-Mack battle for the job next spring could be forthcoming, assuming neither of them enter the NCAA’s winter transfer portal.
When and if that commences, it’ll be about performance.
But when it comes to the physical tools, Russell will be unmatched.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football QB Keelon Russell has tools to be special
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