re: Open QB competition in 2017?

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You have no evidence to support this. This is not Miles' team anymore. Etling will not simply start because he is a senior. Brand new OC, brand new system, best QB will win the job.

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It's not that Etling will start just because he's a senior. It's because being a senior has value. Being 22 or 23 has value. Having started 20ish games in the Big 10 and SEC has value. The other guys would have to be so incredibly better than him to make up that value gap that--as freshmen who have never taken a snap--it is likely insurmountable. Let's look at the starting QBs in our most successful seasons since Saban got here:

2001--Rohan Davey--5th year Sr.
2003--Matt Mauck--24-year-old 4th year Jr.
2006--Jamarcus Russell--4th-year Jr.
2011--Jarrett Lee/Jordan Jefferson--both Seniors
2013--Zach Mettenberger--5th year Sr.

Coaches drool over having capable, mature, experienced, incumbent Senior come back to lead their team. There should--and likely will--be at least the appearance of having an open competition. But the coaches know our best chance at having a successful 2017 season is if Danny Etling is our quarterback. And he will be barring injury. If you can't comprehend this, well, just prepare to be disappointed. Either way,

I always find it comical how people on this site go all in on a player that's never taken a meaningful college stat.


At least with Etling and Harris we have something to gauge them by that actually matters.

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For this reason, Etling should be favored. But don't be surprised if Scott vets well enough to earn significant playing time, either in 4th quarter mop-up or even under a dual QB system

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I get it. You've really only seen DE and BH. But talent is everything, including the things you listed. The younger guys are the dark horses. Or maybe Canada's system is the true dark horse.

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Which will be Etling, not Scott. Scott is just the message board savior, like many before him.

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Time will tell. If it is a true competition, it's going to be interesting.

Sometimes guys are slotted b4 spring even starts.

QB1 8 reps
QB2 6 reps
QB3 4 reps
QB4 2 reps
QB5 1 rep

This is how it was done under the old staff. If this happens with the new staff, QB3-5 are not really being evaluated. But if it's a true competition, get ready for a new direction.

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Even if one of the QB's outshine Etling in the Spring / Summer, Etling will be our starter through the 1st 5 games. The best of the other QB's should get a lot of meaningful reps in those same games. If the offense does well, even a 3rd QB will get some good time.

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What? So if DE loses the competition, he should be the starter for the next 5 games? I'm sorry. Nobody who has started in the last two seasons have proven that they are worthy of losing the battle at practice, yet still be named the starter.

Take a page out of Sabans book. If a younger guy wins the competition, that's your guy.

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No shite Sherlock. He will start bc he's the best player at this position we have on team. It's amazes me some of idiots hate on this guy after his play this year

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If you truly think Etling is the best QB on the team then you would have said there is no way Scott beats out Etling for the job. But no, you said there's no way he beats out "a senior Etling". This implies, at least to me, that you find his experience to be the distinguishing factor.

Who said I hated Etling? He did good enough for the situation he was thrown into. I'm just arguing that he will not just simply start because he has the experience. We've been down that road for long enough with less-talented but experienced guys and it needs to change. I fully expect with a new regime for there to be a completely open QB competition this spring where the most talented guy wins out regardless of experience.

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When has Saban ever started a younger guy over the incumbent starter? And your suggestion that they invest in the future is absurd. They don't have the luxury of playing for the future--Coach O hasn't earned that kind of capital. He's got to win and win now. Which is why Etling is the no-brainer starter barring injury. Discussing anything else is simply a waste of breath(or key strokes).

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I appreciate your comment on "that part" of my reply. But I would disagree with anyone who would suggest that DE should win the job if he didnt win it in practice. The spring is all about evaluation. If someone else wins the evaluation process, thats who should start. I would likewise think absurb to start an incumbent, if someone else executes the new offense better than that incumbent. If a younger guy executes the new system better than an older guy, then that puts Coach O in the best possible situation to win now.

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Lindsay Scott is not beating a senior Danny Etling.
You should do yourself a favor and give up this narrative.
Save yourself some dissapointment.

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If Etling was some awesome QB, I'd agree, but Etling is not. He's the typical average QB that gets beat out by the more talented and more capable QB at most colleges. I can't tell you how many times I've seen it yearly where the senior or experienced QB is beaten out by the more talented and younger guy.

I'm sorry if you think Etling is better than what he is. If Harris wasn't so ridiculously inaccurate this year, Danny never sees the field even with Ed O as HC.

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If Etling was some awesome QB, I'd agree, but Etling is not. He's the typical average QB that gets beat out by the more talented and more capable QB at most colleges. I can't tell you how many times I've seen it yearly where the senior or experienced QB is beaten out by the more talented and younger guy.

I'm sorry if you think Etling is better than what he is. If Harris wasn't so ridiculously inaccurate this year, Danny never sees the field even with Ed O as HC.

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First you say that Etling shouldn't have an edge with experience, then you say that Harris would have kept his job under any coach if he wasn't the most inept QB in college football. The only reason Harris played 5 quarters was because of his experience and being the incumbent starter.

Even if he was more accurate he would have been the worst QB on the roster.

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We're not too far off here. I think Etling will win in practice because of all the things that come along with being experienced--processing pre-snap information faster and audibling, not getting flustered and being able to feel pressure and slide up in the pocket, going through progressions, dumping off to the check down and turning an -7 yard sack into a 4-5 yard gain, etc

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We just might have a guy on the roster who processes even faster than DE, but also offers more athleticism. Hopefully comp is truly "open"