The question about who will start at quarterback this season for Alabama was not a stumbling block for the folks at Athlon Sports. No matter who wins the job, the Crimson Tide will be fine in 2018. In fact, more than fine. Perfect.

That was the conclusion for Athlon Sports and its editors and writers, who all agreed on 12-0 for Alabama.

They wrote off the non-conference slate as any threat to an undefeated season, and a bye week coming before the game at LSU works in Alabama’s favor.

Mitch Light summarized the predicament in this way, and noted his analysis of the schedule.

“Yes, it’s boring to pick Alabama to go undefeated,” he wrote. “And yes, I realize that the Tide have only navigated the regular season without a loss twice in the Nick Saban era. But this Alabama team is very, very, very good. And while it’s easy to say, in late August, that this team will lose a game at some point, identifying that game, before the season starts, is the difficult part.”

Looking past the quarterback competition, Bryan Fischer went to defense as a key concern.

“Tua or Jalen? Jalen or Tua?,” he wrote. “Yes the quarterback position is the focus for everybody in Tuscaloosa but I’m much more interested in how quickly Nick Saban can turn over his entire secondary from a year ago.”

Nick Cole, meanwhile, suggested Alabama may be as prepared as ever.

“You could pick the Crimson Tide to lose a game on the 2018 schedule (much like they did in 2017), but it’ll require an upset,” he wrote. “Alabama should be favored in all 12 games, and rightfully so.”