You may have heard this before but Alabama is heading into fall camp without knowing who will be taking snaps from under center to start the season.

However, unlike previous seasons, the Crimson Tide appear to be loaded at the position and have several good options to choose from, with redshirt junior Cooper Bateman, redshirt sophomore David Cornwell, redshirt freshman Blake Barnett and true freshman Jalen Hurts all potentially vying for snaps this fall.

During his visit to the ESPN campus, Alabama head coach Nick Saban was asked about his quarterbacks by writer Alex Scarbrough. While Saban admits a starter has yet to emerge for the Tide, he seems to believe that will happen before the Sept. 3 season opener against USC.

“Somebody’s got to win that job. Somebody’s got to win the team,”. Saban said according to Scarbrough via ESPN.com. “That has not necessarily happened yet and, you know, I’m not going to sit up here and sort of try to, you know — I don’t know the right word — but give you some statistics on who’s winning the race and how the race is going and who’s ahead, are they on the back stretch or in the final turn. That’s something that’s going to happen probably in fall camp.”

While many fans are eager to see what former elite recruits Barnett and Cornwell can do given the opportunity, the one name that continues to come up as the likely favorite to win the starting role is Cooper Bateman’s. Saban notoriously trusts experience and knowledge over potential and physical attributes from his quarterbacks and his comments on Batman seem to only further push that narrative.

“(Bateman’s) a hard worker,” Saban said. “He has the best understanding of the offense. He has the most experience. And I think that shows, at times. He’s improved his ability and consistency as a passer, which has been the most important thing we tried to work with him to help him develop. He’s a very athletic guy and he’s very bright.

“So all these things are going to contribute to how he can do and how well he can win our team over. But we’ve been pleased with what he’s been able to do so far.”

The Tide have been able to slowly break in new starting quarterbacks in recent seasons thanks to amazing contributions from Amari Cooper in 2014 and Derrick Henry in 2015. With no clear cut superstar on offense heading into fall camp, Alabama may need to figure out in camp who is capable of shouldering the offense early in the season before Saban and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin give their full confidence to yet another new starting quarterback.

Don’t be surprised if the quarterback who develops the best rapport with sophomore receiver Calvin Ridley or senior tight end O.J. Howard initially gets the nod, as both players could be potential difference makers for the Tide’s offense early in the season.