Following the ankle injury to Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama has a shake up at quarterback, as Mac Jones is set to start this week against Arkansas. That means that the younger Tagovailoa, Taulia, will be the backup.

“It is an option,” coach Nick Saban said at his Monday press conference. “I think he’s got a lot of talent. We tried to get him some reps throughout the course of the year, in case this happened. So it’s going to be really important that we do a good job of progressing him this week as well.”

The freshman is 5-foot-11 and 208 pounds.

Taulia Tagovailoa has been in limited action this season. Against Duke, he saw his first collegiate action, but did not record any stats. Against Southern Miss, he completed his first career pass for a gain of 20 yards, and finished 1-for-1 on the day.

Taulia was rated as the No. 4 pro-style quarterback by 247Sports and the seventh-rated prospect in Alabama. In his class, the 247 Composite listed him as the No. 5 pro-style quarterback. He chose Alabama over Florida, LSU and Tennessee. He threw for 3,728 yards and 35 touchdowns as a senior at Thompson High School in Alabaster, Alabama. The Hawaii native participated in Nike’s “The Opening” 2018 Finals in Frisco, Texas, and he was selected to play in the Polynesian Bowl in Hawaii while also being named by the Bowl as the 2018 High School Player of the Year.