Because Jalen Hurts is the SEC’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year, it seems silly to suggest that Alabama has a quarterback controversy.

However, that’s been one of the topics of conversation in Tuscaloosa during spring practice, as the rising sophomore is being challenged by early-enrollee freshman Tua Tagovailoa, who was even more heralded than Hurts at the prep level.

The 5-star signee out of Honolulu (Hawaii) St. Louis High School — that’s where Marcus Mariota played once upon a time, too — lived up to the hype Saturday in the Crimson Tide’s annual A-Day Game, connecting on 12-of-18 passes for 276 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in the first half alone for the White team.

Sure, Tagovailoa had a couple of fortuitous bounces go his way, but he was nothing short of sensational and looked to be in complete control.

Hurts didn’t get off to quite as blistering of a start for the Crimson team, although he did throw for 219 yards prior to intermission on 9-of-14 passing with 1 TD and 1 INT. Early and often, he was taking shots down the field against the ‘Bama secondary.

It’s worth mentioning that the spring format severely limited Hurts due to his running skills — that’s half of his game. While he finished with just 15 yards on 6 carries and was got sacked by the defense 3 times, it takes more than two-hand-touch to bring him to the turf. We were witness to that throughout 2016.

Tagovailoa isn’t the same threat on the ground. He was sacked 3 times for 23 yards in lost yardage and never once had a positive gain with his legs.

Nevertheless, considering the fact that he could still be walking the halls of his high school, Tagovailoa (below) was incredibly impressive throwing the ball. At the very least, he’ll force Hurts to be more effective with his arm.

Apr 22, 2017; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (13) during the A-day game at Bryant Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

There’s no denying that Hurts hit the freshman wall down the stretch a season ago. In three postseason contests — the SEC title game, national semifinal and College Football Playoff National Championship — he was a combined 31-of-65 through the air for 326 yards. That’s a weak completion percentage of 47.7 and a paltry 5 yards per attempt.

Wildly inaccurate at times in the January defeat to Clemson, Hurts was definitely more on the money with the deep ball in the spring game.

This situation is reminiscent of Florida back in 2006, when Chris Leak was already an all-conference QB and a senior leader. But along came a freshman signal caller named Tim Tebow, who lit it up in the spring and was too good to keep on the bench.

With Tebow nipping at his heels, Leak led the Gators — Tebow got some playing time with special packages that suited his dual-threat abilities, but Leak was the primary field general — to a national title and was named MVP of the BCS Championship Game win over Ohio State. This despite a bevy of UF fans wanting him to be benched.

If Tagovailoa does nothing more than prevent Hurts from getting complacent atop the depth chart, that’s bad news for the rest of the league.

“All of our quarterbacks are better passers than they were a year ago,” coach Nick Saban told reporters after the game, “so that’s encouraging.”

Well, Hurts was just an early-enrollee freshman a year ago. Tagovailoa was still a high school junior. Now together with the Tide, imagine how much better they can make each other.

John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.