Every season expectations are lofty for the Alabama Crimson Tide, but in recent years, a ton of attention has been brought to the quarterback play, and rightfully so. Tua Tagovailoa was arguably the greatest quarterback in the history of the program as he erased the notion of Alabama’s weakest spot on offense being the quarterback.
But not everyone is Tagovailoa, and he definitely shouldn’t be the expectation, which is why Alabama’s new starting quarterback Mac Jones shouldn’t be worrying about any comparisons to past players.
Jones has seemingly been the main man all throughout fall camp with no true rumblings of him losing his first string position to five-star freshman Bryce Young. He’s steadily improved each week and has won over his teammates and coaches with his approach to the game.
“Mac has always been a workhorse,” said left tackle Alex Leatherwood. “Ever since he came on campus he’s been one of our hardest workers. In this fall camp, he’s working his ass off. He’s a great team player and a great leader for our team.”
Hard work is something Jones is very familiar with. Last season he was tasked with ending the final stretch of the season while Tagovailoa was out with a dislocated hip. A lot of his future depended on the final four games of the season and Jones stepped up to the plate when he was called upon, just how he learned it from former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts when he was working with Tagovailoa.
“Being under Jalen and Tua and all that, there’s a lot of things you can learn from, but really just from a leadership standpoint, just being ready to go because you never know when you’re gonna have to play,” said Jones last week.
Today, after the successful final run last season and a momentum building camp, Jones does not need to overextend himself or try and play big each play.
Head coach Nick Saban touched on this a few times how Jones is sometimes too hard on himself when things don’t go accordingly. Yet when he stays within the offense and properly evaluates what’s in front of him he has been exceptional.
“When Mac stays in himself and is concerned about doing what he’s supposed to do and executes and does the things that he’s coached to do, he’s very, very effective,” said Saban. “When he stays focused on the play, doesn’t get upset about what happened on the play before, he’s very, very effective. He has shown an ability to do that much better this year. I think it’s a sign of maturity and understanding what he has to do to play winning football at his position.”
Jones has his team, coaches and fans behind him as the Crimson Tide begins its quest for another national title.
“I believe in Mac the same way I believed in Tua,” said wide receiver DeVonta Smith. “As far as him being a leader, just when we come to the sideline after we take out reps and the things we talk about and what didn’t go right on the play or what we could have done better, that lets me know he’s in for it and he’s ready to lead the team.”
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
