3 advantages for Keelon Russell and Austin Mack in Alabama QB battle
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In roughly 3 weeks, Alabama will welcome East Carolina to Tuscaloosa for a Week 1 battle to begin Year 3 of a Kalen DeBoer era that for many is teetering. In other words, it could go either way.
Kind of like the Crimson Tide’s quarterback competition. Right now, in the aftermath of Thursday’s first fall scrimmage, it could go either way, too, and DeBoer admitted as much when asked by reporters if he felt closer to making a decision between Keelon Russell and Austin Mack.
“I don’t feel closer,” DeBoer shot back.
The scrimmage was closed to the media and public, but DeBoer also didn’t hide the fact that Russell and Mack struggled a bit early before settling in. This is a battle of 2 hungry young men who are really talented but really inexperienced when it comes to game-like situations, and unlike last season when Ty Simpson won the starting job after the first fall scrimmage, the Russell-Mack competition appears to be going the distance.
There is another scrimmage next Thursday, another chance for Russell and Mack to limit their mistakes and showcase their strengths. At this moment, there are good reasons for both guys to be The Guy, and here are 3 advantages that Russell and Mack each have as their fall camp battle forges on:
Keelon Russell
Can he win the job after winning the offseason narrative?
1. His ridiculous explosiveness and athleticism
Russell brings that dual-threat dynamic with his legs that Mack just can’t match. Of course, Russell’s ability to hurt defenses with his running ability has never actually taken place yet, in a game, in an SEC game, in a hostile environment, in a must-win situation. So, the nod to Russell’s athleticism is given here with the promise that it’ll all translate past the practice field, where it can help Alabama win at the highest level.
That ability to beat defenses in multiple ways could ultimately swing this thing in Russell’s favor by month’s end, especially considering Alabama’s question marks with a revamped offensive line and an unproven running back room. Having an explosive QB back there who can turn a mess into a masterpiece of a play when, for example, pass blocking breaks down is a quality that can help give Russell the nod for Week 1.
2. His ridiculous arm strength to go with that explosiveness
Russell is hardly just a freak athlete who will tend to run first before he thinks about the pass. Quite the contrary. Yes, Russell provides a different kind of dynamic with his feet, but he’s also got a rifle of an arm that has wowed his teammates at different turns this offseason.
Like Bray Hubbard, possibly the best safety in college football going into the 2026 season, who said of Russell even before his monster performance in the A-Day Game: “Keelon has got a cannon. He gets us all the time with some balls. … You can hear the ball sizzle when he throws it.”
Fast-forward to fall camp and tight end Marshall Pritchett, who said that “Keelon’s like dynamite in a bottle. … He just makes throws and it’s like, you rewind the film, you’re like, ‘there’s no way he just did that.’ How did he just do that? That’s the only way to explain Keelon. The guy’s dynamite.”
Now it’s up to Russell to push himself to the front of the line so that rocket arm is on display in Week 1.
3. His ridiculously high ceiling as a quarterback
In the aftermath of Russell’s sterling performance in the A-Day Game, he got the ultimate compliment from the Tide’s ultimate offensive weapon. Wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams said of Russell: “Literally, it just feels like you’re playing a video game when he is in.”
Showing off that arm strength to go with that ability to burn the defense with his legs, Russell had his “hello Alabama” moment in the spring game. Bama didn’t keep official statistics, but Russell was charted with 240 yards passing with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. He was in there for 9 drives and directed the offense to scores on 7 of them, including 4 touchdowns and 3 field goals.
Russell made the boldest statement imaginable that April day about how high his ceiling is as an SEC quarterback. He might not have much experience on actual game day — not yet, anyway. Russell can take care of that by winning the job in fall camp and exploding onto the college football scene in September.
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Austin Mack
Will the veteran’s patience finally pay off?
1. He’s been in Kalen DeBoer’s system a lot longer
There is something to be said about knowing a playbook front to back and in between, especially when you’re talking about the quarterback position. Mack is entering his 4th campaign in DeBoer’s system, starting all the way back at Washington, where he redshirted during the 2023 season. After following DeBoer to Alabama, Mack backed up Jalen Milroe in 2024 and Ty Simpson last season, so not only has he been in the Bama program longer than redshirt freshman Keelon Russell, he’s a certifiable savant in shoulder pads when it comes to knowing DeBoer’s playbook.
During a side interview with Ryan Fowler of Tide 100.9 at SEC Media Days, Ryan Coleman-Williams paid homage to Mack’s supreme knowledge of DeBoer’s system, saying: “Obviously, he’s a human playbook. With that guy, you’re going to get literally all your answers. He knows the answer before the play even happens.”
That’s big praise coming from the guy that Mack would predominantly be throwing to this fall, and it’s a feather in Mack’s cap that can’t be taken away, no matter what theatrics Russell provides this offseason. Mack hasn’t had much actual game experience at Alabama, playing in 5 games combined and attempting all of 35 passes in 2 seasons. But there is wisdom in watching, and the redshirt junior has swallowed up a wealth of knowledge that he can finally transfer to the field.
2. He’s got motivation and moxie to prove the pre-camp narrative wrong
Mack has ears and he’s a really smart guy, in addition to his physical gifts. You don’t think he’s been hearing about how great an offseason Russell has had since his explosion in the A-Day Game? While Mack was “dinged up” during the spring game, as DeBoer told reporters, Russell got the bulk of the snaps and by far the bulk of the praise out of the 2 quarterbacks afterward.
On that April Saturday, Mack lost the spring narrative — it was all Russell’s, and the narrative that Russell leads this quarterback competition continued through the summer and into fall camp, where Mack can do something about it before it’s too late. For a guy like Mack, who was with DeBoer at Washington as a true freshman and made the cross-country trek in 2024 to continue playing for DeBoer, this moment has to be his, right? He doesn’t want to spend his whole collegiate career as a backup, not with his talent and knowledge.
Right now, in the heat of fall camp, in the heat of the battle with Russell, is where Mack’s motivation to change that pre-camp narrative has to be felt. It’s no secret that Russell has owned those headlines this offseason, and this isn’t to suggest Russell isn’t motivated himself to back up all those compliments. But Mack is running out of time and, well, making him watch on the sidelines yet again with all that knowledge and know-how without giving him his chance might be as risky as putting this offense in Russell’s hands so quickly.
3. He’s simply the safer choice with uncertainty in other areas
This isn’t to insinuate that Russell couldn’t win the job and not take charge amid Alabama’s question marks on offense. Russell was a 5-star recruit for a reason, right? But while Russell’s ceiling might be a bit higher than Mack’s, we don’t even really know that because neither guy has truly gotten a chance to play yet as a college quarterback. With Bama’s offensive line being totally revamped and its running backs being totally unproven, maybe the safer choice is the better choice in this case?
With DeBoer on somewhat shaky ground within the Alabama football universe, with pressure galore to get back to the College Football Playoff and even go a little deeper, maybe Mack gives the Tide a few less “wow plays” but a lot more positive plays over the course of a grueling 9-game SEC season? Mack must prove to DeBoer and Ryan Grubb during fall camp that steadier is better, that he might not be a human video game like Russell but perhaps he won’t be as erratic as the less-seasoned Russell.
Perhaps the offseason Russell hype train was just a temporary precursor to Mack being next in line all along. Because, perhaps, Mack is just a tad more ready right now to steer the ship.
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Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
