Home Sweet Home: former Alabama Quarterback Mac Jones returned back with full commitment congratulations Jones….

They have five national championship rings between them, and came extremely close to scoring some more.

Think about that for a moment. AJ McCarron was on the 2009 Alabama team that won Nick Saban’s first national title with the Crimson Tide, and nearly lost his redshirt because of a rib injury to starter Greg McElroy. He started during the back-to-back titles in 2011-12, and came one play short of having a shot at the threepeat in 2013.

Mac Jones was a redshirt on the 2017 team, but he was already part of a quarterback room that included Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa. Yet when he did get his chance, the quarterback arguably had the best passing season in Crimson Tide history.

So who gets the nod, the player with longevity on his side, or the one who had the undefeated season and was a first-round draft pick? It’s a brutally tough call, but that’s what The Saban 250, ranking the players of the Nick Saban era, is all about. Either could justifiably get the nod.

They both finished in the top three in Heisman Trophy voting. Both won a major national award in addition to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Both were crowned the NCAA king for a season. The title is decided by passer efficiency rating. McCarron was the 2013 NCAA passing champion by posting a 175.3 rating before Nick Saban opted for more passing-friendly offense. While throwing to Heisman winner DeVonta Smith in 2020, Jones posted a 203.1 rating, which was briefly an NCAA record.

Both were team captains. Both set passing records. Both even wore No. 10. They were also more than a little fiery, one being a former tennis player and displaying some of the mannerism that go with that sport, the other famously involved in a shoving incident with his All-American center in the middle of a national championship game (and then hugged before celebrating with the trophy).

“I like that in my quarterback,” tight end Michael Williams said back in 2012 about McCarron’s competitiveness and swagger.

He had each in abundance. A good example was when he bragged to reporters: “Ask Coach Saban, we were killing the ’09 defense on scout team.”

Just to be clear, the 2009 Crimson Tide defense had three All-Americans with Javier Arenas, Terrence Cody and Rolando McClain, along with future first-round draft picks Mark Barron, Marcell Dareus, Kareem Jackson, Dont’a Hightower and Courtney Upshaw. The quarterback claimed that as a freshman he more than gave them everything they could handle during practices. It turned out, he did.

“I do remember it that way,” Nick Saban confirmed, as did Kevin Norwood, who was one of his scout-team receivers: “We were just throwing all over them. We were giving them good looks.”

But that’s not why McCarron is getting the nod.