Blue-Chip QB Elijah Haven Commits to Alabama: How Five-Star Fits Into Crimson Tide Quarterback Room

The Louisiana native is headed northeast.

Elijah Haven will join an intriguing Alabama quarterback room in 2027. | Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network South Carolina / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Like Noah recruiting the creatures of Earth to the ark, Alabama under coach Kalen DeBoer seems to enjoy collecting quarterbacks in pairs—and his most potent duo at the position may be his next one.

On Saturday, the Crimson Tide added quarterback Elijah Haven of The Dunham School in St. George, La., to their 2027 recruiting class. Haven, 17, is a five-star prospect ranked as the No. 2 player in the country by 247Sports.

With the addition of Haven, Alabama—before any future transfers—has an enormous, well-stocked quarterback room. Here’s a look at the names Haven may (or may not) be competing with when he steps on campus next year.

Alabama’s current quarterback crop

This spring, the Crimson Tide are holding a quarterback competition between redshirt junior Austin Mack and redshirt freshman Keelon Russell. Both saw time in Alabama’s spring game, and with the caveat that Mack wasn’t 100%, Russell dazzled fans and teammates alike. Notably, Mack followed DeBoer from Washington to the Crimson Tide.

Alabama has four other quarterbacks on its roster, two of whom are current freshmen: four-star Jett Thomalla from Omaha and three-star Tayden-Evan Kaawa from Molokai, Hawaii. Junior John Cooper and sophomore John Gazzaniga round out the room as depth pieces.

"You just don't know what the future is,” DeBoer said earlier this year via Colin Gay of the Tuscaloosa News. “We've always wanted to have five (quarterbacks). I always felt that recruiting one every year, you know, losing one, you still got four, worst-case scenario. I think that's obviously tougher and tougher.”

In 2027, two more will enter the picture

Joining Haven next year will be Trent Seaborn of Alabaster, Ala., who committed to play for the Crimson Tide on Oct. 20. For those looking way ahead, Alabama has eight offers out to quarterbacks in the Class of 2028, and one to the Class of 2029.

To hammer home the point DeBoer made to Gay, the Crimson Tide are effectively purchasing insurance with their aggressive near-term recruitment—not only against potential transfers, but the possible implementation of a paradigm-shifting five-to-play-five system in the NCAA.

The logic becomes clearer once you game out potential scenarios for the future. If Russell starts and becomes a star, Mack could opt to play out his final year of eligibility (`27) elsewhere. That’d open the backup and third-string positions to one of Kaawa, Haven, Seaborn and Thomalla, ensuring Alabama could plausibly roster three quarterbacks even if half the room transfers. That’s to say nothing of redshirts, which could boost the Crimson Tide’s depth even further (assuming no immediate five-to-play-five rule change comes into effect).

Haven and Seaborn both posted preposterous junior year statistics: the former threw for 62 touchdowns and ran for 11, while Seaborn threw for 35 scores and ran for five. Barring all manner of unforeseen circumstances, it appears one will eventually become Alabama’s starting quarterback. They’ll have their hands full: the Crimson Tide have home-and-home series with Notre Dame and Ohio State coming down the pike, and Haven specifically has a home date with LSU to look forward to in `28.

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