Ty Simpson’s departure for the 2026 NFL Draft has left Alabama fans with a question about who’s going to be their new starting quarterback. While tough competition is expected for the Tide’s QB1 role, PFF’s analyst Max Chadwick dropped his predictions.

According to Chadwick, a tough battle is expected for Alabama’s QB1 role this offseason between redshirt junior Austin Mack and redshirt freshman Keelon Russell.

“While Mack was the primary backup and has the edge in terms of experience, we’ll give the nod to Russell.”

Russell is the second overall prospect and second-best quarterback of the 2025 class, stepping out of Duncanville High School, Texas. The 6-foot-3, 194-pounder is the four-star recruit of Bama, who recorded 8,069 total yards for 97 touchdowns in the two seasons of his high school career.

As a true dual-threat, Russell terrorized defenses by throwing for nearly 7,500 yards and 90 touchdowns with an elite 71.3% completion rate. He also rushed for 625 yards for seven touchdowns with an average of 7.2 yards. He had the most production during his senior year and led Duncanville to the Texas 6A D-1 playoff semifinals. The breakout senior season earned him the National Gatorade Player of the Year, and he was named a MaxPreps All-American.

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The Texas native was initially committed to SMU over 23 offers since September 2023. However, Kalen DeBoer and his staff in Tuscaloosa flipped him in June 2024 and enrolled him last January. He played two games this past season and redshirted his true freshman year. In the two games he played, Russell completed 11 of 15 passes for 143 yards with a 73.3 completion rate and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 17 yards. PFF graded him 77.5 on 37 snaps.

While favoring the best QB in the room, and the hard commit looks obvious, this could be a setback for Austin Mack. Though Mack also hasn’t had much experience on the field, he’s been in Kalen DeBoer’s system for more than three years. He was one of the top recruits of DeBoer for the Washington Huskies, who followed his head coach to Tuscaloosa.

He served as Simpson’s backup this past season, who was offered extended playtime on the field. He recorded 228 yards for two touchdowns with a completion rate of 75%. He also rushed for 22 yards for one touchdown on nine carries. Mack was solid as Simpson’s backup throughout the season. It would be tough for Mack to lose his starting role, yet this is just a prediction, and there’s still a lot of time left to prove it for both.

And Chadwick isn’t the only national analyst who’s keen on Russell.

Josh Pate believes Keelon Russell is the future

College Football Analyst Josh Pate, while discussing Alabama’s starting quarterback for 2026, hinted that there’s going to be a tough battle between Keelon Russell and Austin Mack. He believes that Russell is the future of Bama and is likely to end up with the starting role. Yet, Mack would not be a bad option, citing his performance in the playoffs.

“I think Keelon Russell is the future of that program. Austin Mack is going to play a half in the playoffs here, and it’s basically his audition tape, and he didn’t play badly. I was just sure that he was going to go in the portal; it turns out Austin Mack kind of loves to be at Alabama.

“So he stayed in Alabama. They’re going to have a really high-profile quarterback battle this spring. It is still my belief that Keelon Russell is going to win that job, but that’s just belief; that’s me being really high on him as a player. But I mean, Austin Mack’s a really good player, too.”

It’s a common belief that Kalen DeBoer would formally make his decision during this spring ball on the QB1 role. With less than two months until the spring ball, we might not have to wait that long to understand who’s leading the Crimson Tide into 2026.