Alabama Reinstates Jalen Milroe as Starting Quarterback

After an up and down start to the 2023 college football season, Alabama head coach Nick Saban has again changed his mind about his quarterback going forward.

Saban told reporters that sophomore Jalen Milroe has “earned the opportunity,” according to Bama Central.

“From a quarterback standpoint, this is all I’m going to say about this. Jalen really showed the leadership I was looking for during the game and was supporting his teammates and doing the things he needed to do,” Saban said at a press conference Monday. “He’s had the opportunity to play. So have the other guys. Jalen played the best of those guys, so I think he’s earned the opportunity to be the quarterback.”

Milroe has thrown for 449 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions while seeing action as the starter against Texas and Middle Tennessee. He didn’t play in Alabama’s 17-3 win at South Florida on Saturday, an underwhelming victory that led the Crimson Tide to actually drop in this week’s AP top 25.

Through Alabama’s three-game quarterback evaluation, sophomore Tyler Buchner and freshman Ty Simpson were unable to impress from a statistical standpoint in the way Milroe did. Both players saw action during the team’s most recent win, a 17-3 victory over USF. Buchner, who started against the Bulls, completed just five of 14 passes for 34 yards. Simpson completed five of nine attempts for 73 yards but was sacked five times.