Florida State’s high-profile season-opener against the Alabama Crimson Tide draws closer by the day. The Crimson Tide recently wrapped up spring practice and they’ve got a big question to answer with former starting quarterback Jalen Milroe headed to the NFL. Alabama has been searching for its next signal-caller ahead of head coach Kalen DeBoer’s second season in Tuscaloosa. The program opted not to pursue a quarterback in the transfer portal, instead trusting that returners such as Ty Simpson and Austin Mack alongside high school signee Keelon Russell would be enough. Leading up to the fall, the Crimson Tide appear to have a front-runner for the starting job. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubbs said that if Alabama was playing a game tomorrow, redshirt junior Ty Simpson would command the offense. “At the end of the day, if we’re playing a football game tomorrow, Ty Simpson would start and he earned that,” Grubb said. “I know that’s the line that everybody is looking for but that is what he earned.” Simpson is entering his fourth season with the program and he served as the primary backup in 2024. He was a five-star prospect in the 2022 class. Simpson has seen action in 16 games, completing 29/50 passes for 381 yards while rushing 22 times for 130 yards and three touchdowns. “And by no means does that mean we’re playing a game tomorrow. I think there’s still a lot of work to be done. I think the message, really, is we’ve got to be even better,” Grubb added. “The guys, I know they’ll take that the right way and they understand those things, but essentially we’re not gonna be satisfied with the quarterback room until it’s how it’s supposed to be. “It wasn’t perfect this spring, but I thought we were trending the right way the entire time,” Grubbs continued. “The competitive spirit and the acknowledge of each other as a competitor in that room was very mature honestly and it could’ve been very different than that. I’m blessed to work with those guys every day, I’m fired up, we’ve got three really good quarterbacks.” Grubbs went on to discuss Mack and Russell. Mack signed with DeBoer at Washington and followed him to Alabama. Last season, he completed 2/3 passes for 39 yards and a touchdown. Mack has outstanding size at 6-foot-6, 236-pounds and was a top-100 recruit coming out of high school. “Austin Mack made huge strides and also available reps were the same, and he did a really good job,” Grubb said. “He came out and developed, just with some of the nuances and taking care of the football and things like that, I thought Ty showed out a little bit better.” Russell is the newest addition to the Crimson Tide’s quarterback room. He was the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2024 class and recorded nearly 4,500 total yards as a senior. “Honestly, Keelon exceeded my expectations. I think for a young man his age, he never gave in to that opportunity. We challenged him like that. Don’t give into, ‘I’m a freshman,’ and this and that. And he didn’t.” Grubbs compared Russell to a quarterback he coached at Washington who is now in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons, Michael Penix. “He reminds me and I say this all the time, and I mean it as the biggest compliment, he reminds me so much of Michael Penix just in his demeanor. He has such a calm demeanor,” Grubbs said. “Sometimes you need to find the other edge of that and put a little bit of rush on it. But he did a great job. He had a couple days at the end that he wishes he played a little bit better, but man, I thought he made huge strides.” Florida State and Alabama are scheduled to face off in a non-conference matchup on Saturday, August 30.