For the past three seasons, A.J. McCarron was Alabama’s star quarterback and was the best quarterback for Alabama in recent history. With McCarron now a part of the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL, it is once again time for Alabama to find a new quarterback. The competition in Tuscaloosa has narrowed down to Blake Sims, a senior who played backup to McCarron for the past few seasons, and Jacob Coker, a transfer from Florida State who left because he knew that he would not be able to dethrone Jameis Winston. What makes the competition interesting is that the two quarterbacks play with polar opposite styles. Both styles and players offer different offensive possibilities for Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin, but which one will reign supreme?
The more established of the two is Sims, which gives him a slight advantage from the start. His athleticism is something that Coker does not offer and would allow Kiffin to open up the offense in a number of ways. The offense would be allowed to more effectively integrated read-options, rollouts, moving pockets, etc. because Sims has the athleticism to move well in space and create yards for himself. In fact, Sims was a running back for the Crimson Tide in 2011 as a redshirt freshman. Although, despite being an impressive athlete, Sims is a loose cannon. Simple throws get away from Sims too often. If he were to start, the efficiency of the passing offense would see a noticeable decline. Then again, there is a case to be made that you take the good with the bad in Sims because of how athletic and versatile he is.
On the other hand, Coker is a pocket passer with a laser for an arm. The velocity Coker can put on throws makes the tougher throws, such as posts, deep outs, and short outs, much easier to complete. Likewise, Coker has the ability to fit the ball into tighter windows than most quarterbacks would be able to. Coker also offers familiarity for Kiffin, who worked with a handful of pocket passers during his early years at USC. On a tangent to familiarity, Coker is more similar in style to the Alabama quarterbacks that preceded him than Sims is. As if that were not already enough background with Alabama, the school was Coker’s No.2 option behind Florida State when he was being recruited.
Though Sims is talented, the starting quarterback job is not for him. With both Alabama and Kiffin having familiarity with pocket passers as opposed to athletic types, Coker will likely take over at quarterback. Coker is simply the better passer. He has a stronger arm and has shown he can be more accurate on all levels of the field on a consistent basis. Coker will be able to maximize Amari Cooper as a deep threat, as well as help expose tight end OJ Howard as the incredible talent that he is. Of course, Kiffin may want to roll the dice and start Sims due to the schematic versatility that he offers, but if history is right (and it usually is), Coker will be the starting quarterback in Tuscaloosa.