2026 Alabama Position Breakdown: Quarterbacks

For the second consecutive season, the Crimson Tide will have a new starting quarterback after the Los Angeles Rams drafted Ty Simpson with the 13th pick in the 2026 NFL draft. The Crimson Tide's quarterback battle will come down to Austin Mack and Keelon Russell, who both were with Alabama last season as reserves to Ty Simpson. Alabama also signed two quarterbacks in the 2026 recruiting class in consensus four-star Jett Thomalla and consensus three-star Tayden-Evan Kaawa.

Get our free mobile app

Today, we'll go over each quarterback on the roster, what they bring to the table, and predictions for the Crimson Tide's quarterback room heading into the 2026 season!

Austin Mack - Redshirt Junior (6-foot-6, 232 pounds)

Mack is the most veteran quarterback on Alabama's roster, entering his fourth season of college football. Mack was rated as a four-star quarterback coming out of Folsom High School in Folsom, California, where he passed for 3,498 yards and 40 touchdowns in his final season. Mack was originally a 2024 class recruit, but reclassified to the 2023 class, signing with Washington and head coach Kalen DeBoer. Mack redshirted his freshman season with the Huskies in 2023 when Washington won the Pac-12 and made the College Football Playoff National Championship. After Alabama hired DeBoer to replace Nick Saban following his January 2024 retirement, Mack entered the transfer portal and followed DeBoer to Tuscaloosa, where he served as Alabama's third-string quarterback in 2024 behind Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson.

Mack competed with Ty Simpson last season for Alabama's starting quarterback spot, but served as the Tide's backup quarterback after Simpson won the battle. Mack made four appearances for Alabama last season, completing 75% of his passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed nine times for 22 yards and a touchdown. During the Tide's Rose Bowl loss to Indiana in the CFP Quarterfinals, Mack entered the second half of the contest for an injured Ty Simpson, where he completed 68.8% of his passes for 103 yards against the Hoosiers, leading Alabama on its only scoring drive of the game.

Keelon Russell - Redshirt Freshman (6-foot-3, 201 pounds)

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.

Jett Thomalla - Freshman (6-foot-4, 220 pounds)

Thomalla signed with Alabama as a unanimous four-star quarterback from Millard South High School in Omaha, Nebraska, choosing the Tide over Iowa State, Iowa, and Nebraska. As a senior with Millard South during the 2025 football season, Thomalla completed 72.6% of his passes for 3,484 yards and 58 touchdowns while rushing for 47 yards and three scores.

Thomalla brings a big arm to Alabama's quarterback room, but is not currently expected to compete for the Tide's quarterback vacancy. Even still, Thomalla seems to be a diamond in Alabama's quarterback room with his vision and arm talent, completing 4-5 passes for 48 yards during his first A-Day for Alabama this past April.

Tayden-Evan Kaawa - Freshman (6-foot-5, 235 pounds)

Tayden-Evan Kaawa signed with the Crimson Tide in Alabama's 2026 recruiting class as a three-star quarterback out of Orem High School in Oren, Utah. He is originally from Hawaii and moved to Utah to finish his high school football. As a senior at Orem High School, he completed 60.4% of his passes for 2,585 yards and 35 touchdowns, with 287 rushing yards and a touchdown. Kaawa also has a big arm that he can use to push Alabama's passing game vertically when he gets his opportunity.

Kaawa, like Thomalla, is not expected to compete for Alabama's current quarterback vacancy, but completed 4-5 passes for 37 yards during Alabama's A-Day scrimmage.

Alabama QB Room Prediction

The question on everyone's mind is who will win Alabama's starting quarterback battle between Austin Mack and Keelon Russell. If the battle is close, my philosophy is to go with the player who has the higher ceiling, which would be Russell. It's not often a quarterback has Bryce Young's level of escapability and high velocity passes, which is what we've seen from Russell in limited reps. That's not to say Austin Mack can't start and be a good quarterback for Alabama, but the smoke coming out of spring practice is that Russell not only closed the gap, but is probably a slight favorite to win the job if Alabama had to play a game soon. The battle will continue into fall camp, and expect to see both quarterbacks working with the first-team offense when Alabama opens the season against East Carolina. The questions around Russell are, can he take the hard, physical hits that come with playing quarterback in the SEC, and can he still make the wow plays without the head-scratching ones that often come with a boom-or-bust quarterback? He's already bulked up since joining the Crimson Tide as a 174-pound freshman, now listed at 201 pounds on Alabama's roster. If Russell can limit the mistakes while still keeping the explosive plays, then Alabama's quarterback position could be locked up for the next two seasons.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.