Alabama’s quarterback room is loaded enough to make almost any list look shaky, and yet CBS Sports somehow left it out of Blake Brockermeyer’s top 10.
That omission is hard to square with what Kalen DeBoer has assembled in Tuscaloosa. Alabama still doesn’t have a locked-in starter for the 2026 season, but the competition is shaping up to be a serious one between redshirt freshman Keelon Russell and redshirt junior Austin Mack. Russell has been getting the louder buzz as the favorite, including some dark-horse Heisman Trophy talk, but Mack is very much in the mix and will keep pushing him through fall camp.
What makes the snub even stranger is the sheer talent in the room. Mack arrived as a 4-star recruit and a Top 100 overall player.
Russell was a 5-star and the No. 2 overall player in his class. Then there’s 5-star true freshman Jett Thomalla sitting further down the depth chart, giving Alabama a kind of high-end depth most programs can only dream about.
Brockermeyer’s top 10 looked like this: Oregon, Texas, Utah, Ole Miss, Ohio State, LSU, USC, Miami, Houston and Notre Dame.
There’s a case for ranking proven starters ahead of less-tested options, and that may explain part of the thinking. Utah’s Devon Dampier, for example, can be called more proven than either Mack or Russell.
But that’s not the same thing as saying Utah has a better quarterback room overall. On pure talent and depth, Alabama belongs in the conversation near the top, and leaving it out entirely is a tough sell.
The most likely outcome is that this list won’t age well. Either Russell or Mack should emerge as a major weapon for DeBoer, and the loser of the battle would still profile as one of the best backup quarterbacks in the country. With Thomalla behind them, Alabama’s third option may be just as impressive as some teams’ starters.
The Crimson Tide have plenty to sort out heading into 2026, but quarterback isn’t one of the problems. That room is built to produce a high-level answer, and probably more than one.
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