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Joel Klatt says Alabama is on ‘a worse trajectory’ than Georgia following 2024 season
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Joel Klatt has Georgia firmly inside of his way-too-early top 10 for next season, and he has Alabama on the outside looking in.
As the Crimson Tide enter Year 2 post-Nick Saban, the juxtaposition between them and the Bulldogs is fascinating. For years, Saban’s Alabama was a program Kirby Smart could match but not surpass. And once Saban retired, sure Smart won an SEC championship, but he had one of the weaker Georgia teams he’s ever had. With Texas (No. 2 in Klatt’s top 10) announcing itself as a legitimate player right away in the SEC, has the balance of power shifted away from Alabama and Georgia?
If Georgia bounces back next season, all will be normal. If Alabama falters again, Kalen DeBoer is in trouble.
“I don’t know what to do with Alabama right now,” Klatt said this week on his show. “Who’s their quarterback? What’s the standard going to be under Kalen DeBoer?”
With Jalen Milroe declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft, Alabama will be looking to either Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, or freshman Keelon Russell as its starter next season. Simpson has been around the program for several years, but he has 50 career pass attempts. Mack was the heir apparent to Michael Penix at Washington, but he has appeared in 1 game in 2 years. Russell, obviously, has zero experience at the college level.
But Alabama has issues beyond the quarterback spot. DeBoer struggled with foundation building in Year 1. The Crimson Tide were sloppy, at times undisciplined, at others unfocused. Saban’s teams went 135-3 in games where they were a 14-point favorite or greater. Alabama lost 3 of those games in DeBoer’s first season — at Vanderbilt, at Oklahoma, and against Michigan in the bowl game.
Georgia’s problems were far less severe. Quarterback Carson Beck struggled with interception issues. Receivers dropped passes en masse. The defense wasn’t quite to its lofty standards.
“I felt like it was just a down year for Georgia and yet they navigated the hardest schedule in the country, won the SEC, and they were sitting there in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals with a backup quarterback,” Klatt said in justifying the Bulldogs’ inclusion in his top 10. “So, like, if we think Georgia is going anywhere or this is some sort of trend in the wrong direction, I think we’d all be sorely mistaken. Kirby Smart is far too driven.
“Let’s face it, Bama is on a worse trajectory than Georgia at this point because there’s more questions surrounding Alabama and their culture, the new staff, who’s going to be their quarterback — than there is questions about Georgia. I don’t have a lot of questions for a team whose last 4 recruiting classes were second, first, second, and third in the country. I know they’re loaded with talent.”
Georgia and Alabama play in Athens on Sept. 27. Last year’s matchup in Tuscaloosa was an instant classic. The 2025 meeting could very well be the same.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
