A Jersey Guy: Alabama as QB U?
It could happen as early as September, but it will almost certainly happen sometime during the 2021 National Football League.
Alabama, which has always emphasized the team aspect of college football success under legendary coach Paul Bear Bryant and now under Nick Saban is manufacturing NFL quarterbacks better than any one else in college football.
In Miami, former Tide QB Tua Tagovailoa is already penciled in as the starter for the Dolphins and the same is expected with the Philadelphia Eagles where Jalen Hurts has the job.
Hurts gets a half vote because he started at both Alabama and Oklahoma during his college career.
And after last week's NFL draft, the New England Patriots can add Alabama QB Mac Jones to their roster as someone who has starting, if not star, potential, sooner rather than later.
Factor that with the six first round players chosen from Alabama and you can see why Saban's pipeline to the NFL has become part of the fabric of both college and professional football.
And in case, you were wondering, almost every pre-season college football predictions you will check in the next few weeks will have Alabama in Top 5 slot.
Wait.
There's more. Alabama's projected new QB is a redshirt freshman from the Los Angeles area named Bryce Young who was the top high school prospect in the country two years ago.
Jones's climb to the middle of the first round was spectacular. A year ago, he was labeled a "game maintenance'' QB and not much more.
Of course having a pair of wide receivers, one who won the Heisman, on your roster and were selected ahead of him in the first round didn't hurt Jones' chances.
Still, Jones had to make the plays--which he did.
But he also added a cerebral element which may be the key factor.
Soon after the Tide won the national championship in Miami in January with a spanking of Ohio State, Saban was looking for a new offensive coordinator to replace Steve Sarkasian, who parlayed that success into a job as the new head coach at Texas.
Saban, as he has done before, dove into the NFL and hired former Houston head coach Bill O'Brien who had been fired by the Texans.
Word quickly filtered out of Tuscaloosa that O'Brien was being aided in his new job in grasping the complexities of the Bama offense by none other than Mac Jones,
Jones had hardly been a Patriot for more than a few minutes when comparisons were made to Tom Brady, the G.O.A.T of NFL quarterbacks.
Welcome to the NFL ,Mac.
But as absurd as the comparison now seems to the 7-time Super Bowl winning QB in Brady, it is valid
if you compare Jones to the sixth round draft (199 player chosen) from Michigan in 2000.
In fact, Jones may have better credentials than that Tom Brady.
In any case, it will make an interesting show in New England this fall.
As for Bama, well the Tide continues to roll along as does the ever dominant Southeastern Conference.
But then again there is a caste system of have and have nots which is dominiating college football.
The NFL draft is the latest example.
Here is a college football Top 10, ungraded by rounds of the Top 10 from the draft, using players selected .
1. Ohio State 10
1. Alabama 10
2. Georgia 9
2. Notre Dame 9
5. Michigan 8
6. Florida 7
7. LSU 7
8. Kentucky 6
9. Penn State 6
10. Pitt 6