re: 2020 FB Recruiting & Roster

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For a fifth consecutive offseason, BamaOnLine is counting down Alabama’s top 25 most important players ahead of the Crimson Tide’s fast-approaching fall camp and 2019 football season.

We continue our rankings with quarterbacks Mac Jones and Taulia Tagovailoa at No. 24.

*** Breakdown of Alabama’s Top-25 Most Important Players for 2019: Two things went into consideration in this breakdown. One was how much the player would see the field this fall. With that condition, the list is primarily made up of starters. The second aspect is the player’s importance to the team, meaning if they are replacing a starter at a key position and how hard it would be to replace them should something occur to force them out of commission.

JONES PROFILE
Height: 6-foot-2 Weight: 205 pounds

Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla. High School: The Bolles School

247Sports Composite ranking: 3-star (2017)
- No. 399 nationally
- No. 18 pro-style quarterback
- No. 52 in state of Florida
TAGOVAILOA PROFILE

Height: 5-foot-11 Weight: 211 pounds

Hometown: Alabaster, Ala. High School: Thompson

247Sports Composite ranking: 4-star (2019)
- No. 180 nationally
- No. 5 pro-style quarterback
- No. 8 in state of Alabama
2019 OUTLOOK

Alabama exited the 2018 season needing a new backup quarterback. Jalen Hurts is now in Norman, Okla., and will suit up for the Oklahoma Sooners this fall. While the Crimson Tide has its starting signal caller back for another year in Tua Tagovailoa, last year proved that having a capable backup was a luxury for Alabama -- and one many other teams would have enjoyed possessing.

Entering the spring, Jones looked like the favorite to lock down the No. 2 spot, and the redshirt sophomore didn’t waste his opportunity with a strong end to the 15-practice slate. He threw for an A-Day Game-high 271 yards and two touchdowns on 19-of-23 passing and led the White team to a 31-17 win over the Crimson squad to cap the spring. But he wasn’t alone on the White team.

Alabama signed two 4-star quarterback recruits during the 2019 cycle, both of whom were on campus early in Taulia Tagovailoa and Paul Tyson. The younger Tagovailoa was the other QB on the White team and threw for 93 yards and a touchdown on 6-of-9 passing in his debut. There were times where Taulia looked like the second-best quarterback on the field other than his brother.

Exiting the spring, the battle for the backup quarterback job will be one of the more interesting for the Tide prior to fall camp and the 2019 season. Neither player has much experience (Jones attempted 13 passes in 2018) but they both showed Nick Saban and company have some options behind Tua Tagovailoa. And with some improvement this offseason, could be solid No. 2s.
WHY NO. 24?

If Tua Tagovailoa stays healthy throughout his junior season, the backup quarterback role will not matter all that much. At least not this year. But the returning starter dealt with hand, knee and ankle injuries from the spring until the end of the 2019 season and even had to leave the SEC Championship Game against Georgia because of it. Hurts led UA to a win after his early exit.

Hurts ranked No. 25 in our re-ranking of the most important players for last year’s team, and because of him, the entire team received SEC title game rings after the A-Day Game. So, an unknown backup with far less experience ranks one spot ahead of the now-Sooner. And to be honest, It has more to do with Tua Tagovailoa’s importance to the team success than anything else.

Plus, there is still work ahead for Jones and Taulia Tagovailoa -- and even Tyson -- this summer.

Saban's Spring comments...we've heard them a hundred times.. "they did well for spring, dont read too much into it...yada yada yada"
WHAT SAY YOU?

*** Below are the players that are ranked below Jones and Tagovailoa at No. 24.
25. PKs Joseph Bulovas and Will Reichard

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