QBU: Schools That Produce the Best Quarterbacks in the NFL

2. Alabama Crimson Tide

•Mac Jones

•Tua Tagovailoa

•Jalen Hurts

Admittedly, the highs of these next two groups look a bit weak in comparison to the last two because they don’t feature an NFL MVP, but they both have three current starting quarterbacks in the league. First off, let’s go with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

We will get this one out of the way early, yes Jalen Hurts counts when discussing Alabama quarterbacks. Hurts started as a true freshman, and led the program to back-to-back playoff berths in his two seasons as the full-time starter in Tuscaloosa. Hurts threw for 40 touchdowns to only 10 interceptions, and nearly reached the 1000-yard mark as a runner in each campaign. Hurts stayed with the Tide for his junior season, but was the backup for the majority of it. He came in to relieve the injured Tagovailoa during the SEC Championship, leading Alabama to a stunning victory against Georgia and locking in their spot for another playoff appearance.

After the season concluded, Hurts began looking for a different place to play, in hopes that he could not only continue his development as a passer, but also catch the eyes of NFL scouts. He opted to transfer to the Oklahoma Sooners. I’ll save the rest for later, but his time with Oklahoma was ultimately a success. He opened enough eyes as a passer in Lincoln Riley’s system, leading to being selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.

The guy that has been name dropped throughout the article finally makes an appearance here. Tua Tagovailoa replaced Hurts in 2018, and went on to post one of the best seasons of any quarterback in program history. He threw for 43 touchdowns and completed 69% of his passes. This success led to many draft pundits ranking Tagovailoa as the QB1 entering the 2019 college season. Tua was well on his way to another historic season, but ankle and hip injuries stopped Tagovailoa in his tracks.

This did little to dissuade scouts, as the lefty still went top five in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Miami Dolphins. With the Dolphins, Tagovailoa has continued to deal with injuries, but he is 13-8 as a starter. He was the catalyst for the team as they won seven of their final eight games, almost grabbing a playoff spot after a 1-7 start. Tagovailoa didn’t post elite numbers overall, but he proved to be deadly accurate, completing 69.7% of his passes over the span. The roster is drastically improved heading into 2022, and this is the perfect opportunity for Tagovailoa to become “the guy” for the franchise.

The final quarterback on the list for Alabama is the most recent first-round draft pick, Mac Jones. Jones first took over for Tagovailoa in the 2019 season following his late season hip injury. The team did not perform well with Jones behind center, but he used this as motivation to come back as a better player in 2020. Bryce Young, a five-star recruit, flipped his commitment from USC to Alabama. Many believed that Young would earn the starting gig as a true freshman, but Jones had other plans. Not only did he retain the top spot on the depth chart, he led the team to a National Championship. Behind the strength of his jaw-dropping 77.4 completion percentage, Alabama finished the season without a single loss on the schedule. His teammate, DeVonta Smith, won the Heisman, but Jones finished third in the voting.

Jones was the forgotten about man in the 2021 NFL Draft when it came to quarterbacks. Guys like Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, and Justin Fields all possess more physical talent than Jones. And all four went ahead of Jones. But guess what? Mac was the only one to start a playoff guy from that list. Granted, he landed with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, but credit where credit’s due. Jones completed 67.6% of his passes and showed flashes of high level play under center. Jones likely will never reach the heights that some in this article are destined for, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a good NFL quarterback. Who knows, nobody expected him to even get this far, and now he’s the starting quarterback for one of the most prestigious franchises in the league. You would be a fool to bet against him after everything he has overcome. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?