What Alabama wants to see out of winner of quarterback competition in first scrimmage

Alabama football is set to participate in its first scrimmage of fall camp ahead of the 2026 season this week, and the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb wants to see a lot of command out of his next starting quarterback during the scrimmage.

Keelon Russell and Austin Mack continue to compete for the starting quarterback role. It is unclear at the moment if either has created separation.

Grubb told reporters Monday he wants to see command from his quarterbacks when they face adversity this week.

“I wanna know what it feels like when the chips are down a little bit in practice or maybe we had a three-and-out,” Grubb said. “What did they look like? How are their teammates responding to them? So, you certainly can’t have the rah-rah guy start if you can’t throw the ball, but I’m definitely looking for command because they’re both capable physically of making all those plays. So, now you’re starting to look at decision-making, completion percentages, turnovers, explosives, how all those things obviously play out. And also, does it look like that guy believes I am going to make this play? Both of those guys are getting better at that every day.”

The Alabama offensive coordinator recently gave an update on whether the Tide has a timeline to name a starter.

“Just younger guys, making sure we have every ounce of data we need,” Grubb said to the media on Thursday. “But if it’s the first scrimmage, it’s the first scrimmage. If we feel good about that after that point, we’ll name that. Obviously the longer your team can have their starter named, the better off you are. We don’t worry about the other team and who they know it is or isn’t. We just want to make sure we make the right decision.”

Alabama opens the season on Sept. 5 against East Carolina.