The very thought that quarterback Jalen Hurts could lose his grip on the starting job at Alabama to one of the true freshmen this offseason stems from the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year’s struggles to pass the ball at the tail end of last season. While that notion is very questionable, at best, head coach Nick Saban continues to state the offense’s goal this spring is to improve the passing game in Tuscaloosa.

There’s simply no denying that Hurts is lethal with his legs, he rushed for 954 yards and 13 touchdowns his first season on campus, so Alabama isn’t concerned with getting his legs any reps this spring. With extra consideration to the unnecessary added risk of potential for injury, Saban has asked his quarterbacks to limit the use of their legs this spring.

“We have really limited the quarterback runs this spring and we’re focused on trying to develop a better passing game,” Saban said during his Tuesday media availability.

In addition to the added emphasis on the passing game, Alabama is of course undergoing a major overhaul to its offense staff this offseason. The additions of offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and well-known analysts Chris Weinke and Dan Werner, all three come with extensive expertise on the quarterback position, point to potential fresh ideas and potentially upgrades in knowledge for the Alabama quarterbacks on the roster.

Saban was asked during the press conference to share his thought process on the hiring of offensive analysts Weinke and Werner.

“We’ve always had a lot of respect for Chris Weinke,” Saban admitted. “The guy was a great player, played a long time in the league. He’s very knowledgeable, he was a great high school coach at IMG. He went into the NFL and got a couple good years of experience in the NFL. So we thought he’d bring some knowledge and experience and would be helpful to us off the field and with game plan.”

Arguably Saban’s best comment of the day was reserved for his feelings on the former Ole Miss offensive coordinator.

“Dan Werner, from Ole Miss, do I need to tell our fans or anybody on our staff the issues that we’ve had with their offense the last couple of years?” Saban asked.

“Always had a tremendous amount of respect for what they do and how they coach it. I think it will help us on offense and defense to have a guy around here that can add some knowledge and experience to the way they do RPOs, some of the things they did in the passing game. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Dan.”

The Rebels have had as much success against Alabama’s defense as any team not named Clemson over the years, as Ole Miss has scored 43 points in each of the last two meetings with Alabama and beat the Tide 23-17 in 2014. Now with one of the Rebels’ offensive gurus on his own staff, Saban has intimate knowledge of how the Rebel offense best attacks his system and will have plenty of time to counter those moves heading into the 2017 season.

You have to hand it to Saban, who else could get away with hiring an offensive assistant for the purposes of one game?

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