New Alabama’s crimson tide commit Jalen Hurts is ‘coming to hang banners’…..
Jalen Milroe is getting some serious praise! The Alabama quarterback is being compared to a former Alabama QB who’s now a big deal in the NFL. If you guessed Jalen Hurts, you’re right!
College football experts see similarities between Milroe and Hurts, who led the Crimson Tide to the CFP National Championship in 2017. Milroe’s development under Kalen DeBoer seems to be following a similar path to Hurts’.
On August 9, during Crain & Company, Alabama football analyst Clint Lamb was asked about Milroe’s potential for the Heisman. Lamb didn’t hesitate to draw a comparison to the 2019 Heisman finalist, Jalen Hurts. He said, “It’s kind of like Jalen Hurts. I have compared Jalen Milroe to Jalen Hurts. It’s not the same, but as far as the skill set, it looks Jalen Hurts.”
Lamb pointed out how Hurts grew as a player at Alabama under Nick Saban, especially when he replaced Tua Tagovailoa in the SEC Championship game. Hurts became a different player at that point. Lamb noted, “But I think it took him going to Oklahoma and being in a system like Lincoln Riley’s, where a head coach or play-caller could mask some of his weaknesses and highlight his strengths.” That system turned Hurts into a Heisman winner and potential first-ro
“What do we need to get going on offense?”
Quarterback Jalen Hurts, the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year, had been a force since arriving on campus, guiding the Tide to a 26-2 record and back-to-back title game appearances as the starter.
But Alabama had been shut out in the first half against Georgia and trailed 13-0. Waiting in the wings was freshman phenom Tua Tagovailoa, whose precision passing stirred excitement throughout the season. After conferring with his staff, Saban sought out the quarterbacks to announce his decision.
“The consensus was, ‘Hey, let’s give the other kid a shot,'” said Mike Locksley, former Alabama offensive coordinator and current head coach at Maryland.
Word that Tagovailoa would start the second half didn’t reach some of their teammates until the offense took the field, and the switch surprised many of the players and coaches.
The decision sparked a chain reaction that reverberated well beyond that championship game. It ultimately set Tagovailoa and Hurts on divergent paths to stardom, in college and the NFL. Those paths will cross for the first time Sunday night when Hurts and the 5-1 Philadelphia Eagles host Tagovailoa and the 5-1 Miami Dolphins (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC).
“We’ll probably see each other before the game to wish each other luck, but at the end of the day, we’re both trying to help our teams win,” Tagovailoa said Wednesday. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Jalen. He’s been a great competitor since I got to Alabama.”
Tagovailoa awakened the Alabama attack when he entered the 2018 CFP title game, tossing three touchdowns in the 26-23 comeback overtime win. The winning score came on a 41-yard strike to DeVonta Smith, who is a teammate of Hurts in Philadelphia.
“After Tua threw the touchdown, Jalen was one of the first guys to run up to him,” Smith said.
“Seeing them hug afterwards, then hug us, you really only see that in movies,” former Alabama receiver Swade Hutchinson said. “You saw nothing but tears of happiness and joy from Jalen to Tua and the rest of us.
