Everything Kalen DeBoer Said About Quarterbacks After First Day of Fall Camp

Alabama is 31 days away from kickoff against Florida State in Tallahassee, Florida. The Crimson Tide will name a starting quarterback sometime before then, but it wasn't the first day of fall camp.

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Alabama will have 19 more practices to determine a starter before it begins game week for Florida State. Even though Kalen DeBoer didn't name a starter on Wednesday, Alabama's head coach still had a lot to say about the quarterbacks.

What did Kalen DeBoer see from his quarterbacks on day one?

"Yeah, I think they've all taken steps through the summer. And you can see they are definitely more comfortable with the install. A lot of it's the reps they get with the play concepts they have, but the footwork, and just the confidence with that. And some of the new things that we've added in, so Ty and Austin, those things are still new this spring. And they've now become very comfortable with, and it's subtle stuff.

"But probably Keelon's gonna be the one that you're gonna see the biggest jump naturally, and I feel like that was good. I mean, he's making quick decisions and not sitting there thinking too much. But I felt all of them did.

"I think Ty, we've talked about all the quarterbacks, but just the gimme, the ones that are just should be 100% making those plays all the time. And I really felt like he did that. He got probably more opportunities just because of the way the plays developed. To have more of those gimmes, and those gimmes add up. Gimmes are five-yard gains that turn into 15 and 20, and sometimes explosives. And they keep the chains moving.

"And so I like the mindset of our quarterbacks because when you can trust your quarterback to go through his progression and be OK with checking it down and not forcing something, you can call, as a play caller, a lot more balls down the field. And know that it's not just gonna be an incomplete pass or an explosive play. There's gonna be a progression, and it's gonna be some type of movement down the field. It's gonna put you in manageable down and distances, whether it's second, third, or fourth.

How will the Tide handle rep distribution among the three players competing for the starting quarterback job?

"We'll start out pretty consistent with probably how we finished the spring. And again, Keelon's reps continue to build up from what it was in spring, where he was primarily with the threes and fours. But here early on, you're just installing and you're trying to give each quarterback, along with each other position and player, the reps of the install. And then once you get past that first kind of round of installs, then you really start kind of probably dialing it in at that time. But we'll play it by ear as we go, because if someone separates themselves, one, two guys, then you do make adjustments along the way."

Alabama's defense returns nine starters from a top-ten unit in college football last season. How does a defense with that much continuity prepare the quarterbacks?

"Yeah, a lot of the competition right now is a lot of pressure on them. There's pressure to play in games and the quarterback pressure that exists going through the season, but really, the pressure that they have to compete and win the spot is something that's preparing them for those times in the games. Going against a defense like ours. Our defense does a really good job. I think they're getting better and better at disguising things, which means you don't know where things might always come from, and guys just better playmakers. They can cover a lot of ground. They're not just giving you those gimmies, those blown coverages; you're having to make plays. Quarterbacks did a good job of taking calculated risks at the right time. They didn't put our offense in jeopardy, really, throughout practice. They're being challenged by, obviously, a group on the other side of the ball that we've got a lot of confidence in right now."

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_.