After Alabama football's second spring scrimmage, Kalen DeBoer remained pleased with what he's seen out of his quarterback room.
In a quest to replace starter Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell "all got their shot with the ones and twos," DeBoer said, but indicated that Simpson and Mack took most of the reps with the rest of the top of the depth chart.
To DeBoer, it's not that Russell is struggling. It's more of the "learning curve" the 2025 Texas five-star continues to face with installing the offense.
"That's no real indication on where he's at," DeBoer said. of Russell. "He's killing it, doing a great job. You can see, when he's out there, he's getting more and more comfortable moving the ball down the field. When there's a throw to be made, he'll make the throw, that's for sure"
DeBoer said all three quarterbacks are throwing catchable balls for the wide receivers.
"They are all three making some throws, making some big-time throws," DeBoer said. "I thought they all moved moved the chains at times when they had their backs to the wall, maybe some second-, third-and-long situations, they found a way to make a big throw."
After the first scrimmage, DeBoer said he was pleased with his quarterback room, saying it position group looked "more comfortable" and that nothing he saw necessarily changed his mind about the status of the room.
"I think it's pretty consistent from where it was from the beginning," DeBoer said. "They all bring something a little bit different to the table. Even though it's not like maybe a runner and then a passer, it's guys doing their thing and what their strengths are."
Alabama will hold its annual A Day spring game at Bryant-Denny Stadium at noon April 12.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at
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