The bottom line on Jalen Hurts

Jalen has done a great job as Alabama's QB to this point. He's 22-2 as a starter. But he's come about as far he can. We are winning games in spite of Jalen Hurts, not because of Jalen Hurts. You saw it in the playoffs last year, and the last couple of games we've played this year against any team with a pulse on defense: make Jalen beat you with his arm and his head and he can't do it. Take away his legs and he fails. He's had 24 games to grow into the job and yes, he has shown some improvement, but that improvement has been incremental at best, microscopic at worst. It's time to make a change. And all of you that bitch and moan about Tua and the mistakes he has made, you are damn right he has. But he's done it in very limited action and hasn't had a chance to learn the job yet. At least he's throwing the ball down the field. For example, the pick he threw against UT that was almost a pick six. You know what? I'll take that all day long over holding on to the damn ball and looking for a running lane like a deer in the headlights instead of looking for an open man. Jalen can't do it. He's a more mobile Jake Coker. He locks onto Ridley and waits for Calvin to shake his man. If he can't, oh shite! time to bail.

Tua is going to make mistakes and throw interceptions. But that's ok. How else does he learn what he can and can't do at this level? The point is, he throws the ball. He throws it well. And he throws it before he runs. And he continues to look to throw when he runs. I don't want Bama's QB being the leading rusher on the team or anywhere near it. This ain't the wishbone era. I want him to be able to throw the ball downfield for completions, yards and TD's. I like Jalen, I really do. But I can't close my eyes to the fact that he's not an elite caliber QB. He's not even average at passing. That won't do in Tuscaloosa. Maybe it works in Lexington or Columbia or Nashville, but not in Title Town. We don't need a liability at QB, we need an asset. Jalen has become a liability. It's time to move on. It's not about the Auburn loss. There's plenty of mistakes to go around for that. It's not on Jalen. It's about the entire body of work. And the trajectory of his development. Neither of which is good.