Alabama Football: Top 6 quarterbacks of the Nick Saban era

Nick Saban has done it all from winning national titles (7) to Paul “Bear” Bryant awards (2) to becoming one of the greatest college football coaches of all-time. Saban, throughout his years at Alabama, has found great success with all-time greats such as Derrick Henry, Julio Jones and Mark Ingram, just to name a few, but today I am going to rank the top six Alabama Football quarterbacks of the Saban era.

Top 6 Alabama Football quarterbacks of the Nick Saban era

6. Greg McElroy

College Career Passer Rating: 155.8

Beginning with Greg McElroy. McElroy was the first quarterback to win a national title under Saban at Alabama. Before he played with the Crimson Tide, McElroy was a three star recruit out of Texas and won the TX 5A classification state title. He transitioned to college and accrued a 66.3 completion percentage, 5,691 passing yards and 39 touchdown passes to go along with 10 interceptions in his entire collegiate time. College seemed to be a launching pad for McElroy as the former Alabama Football quarterback would play in the NFL for a few seasons, and is now apart of ESPN’s college football coverage.

5. A.J. McCarron

College Career Passer Rating: 162.5

Next up, A.J. McCarron. The first team All-American racked up some productive stats in college that included 9,019 passing yards and 77 touchdowns. McCarron would also lead the Crimson Tide to two national championships as a starter, which came in back-to-back years in 2011 and 2012.

4. Jalen Hurts

College Career Passer Rating: 162.6

At number four, Jalen Hurts. Even though Hurts transferred to Oklahoma later, he made the best out of his time in Alabama. He replaced Blake Barnett in his first game against USC and would lead the Crimson Tide to back-to-back national title games in 2016 and 2017 alongside playmakers such as Josh Jacobs, O.J. Howard and Calvin Ridley. The dual threat quarterback was named first team All-SEC at one point, as well as 2017 Sugar Bowl offensive MVP.

3. Tua Tagovailoa

College Career Passer Rating: 199.4

Thirdly, Tua Tagovailoa. The Hawaii native helped lead Alabama to the 2017 national title with a memorable 41-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith to beat Georgia in the national championship. That moment marked the start of an illustrious college career for Tua. Like Hurts, Tua made an immediate impact in his freshman season, headlined by when Saban summoned for help off the bench in that 2018 title game that will arguably go down as one of, if not the best national title contests in college football history.

2. Mac Jones

College Career Passer Rating: 197.6

Second to last, Mac Jones. The Florida native broke school records for single season passing yards (4,514) and completion percentage (77.4%). He also led Alabama to a national title in 2020 and became the best pro-style quarterback to ever play for Saban.

1. Bryce Young

College Career Passer Rating: 184.9

Finally, Bryce Young. Young, in a short amount of time, has validated why he was the top quarterback recruited by Saban from the 2020 class. 2021 was the year Young proved to be a five star talent, winning the Heisman Trophy, which is rare in a quarterbacks first season as a starter. Young led the Crimson Tide to a national title appearance a year ago, but would fall to Georgia by a final score of 33-18. A sour loss for Alabama, but Young has an opportunity to obtain another Heisman this season, as well a national championship.