Former Alabama football quarterback and three-time National Champion AJ McCarron feels Tide fans will have to be patient with Keelon Russell this season.
Russell is a first-year starter for the Crimson Tide, and in his first few games, he has shown flashes of being a young quarterback. McCarron feels these flashes will likely continue as the young quarterback grows.
“Fans can be mad,” McCarron said on “The Dynasty” podcast. “I know there’s always gonna be fans that [say], ‘Oh, he’s gotta play better, blah, blah, blah.’ He understands that, but he’s also a young quarterback, and it’s not gonna be a kid that I beat up on. I’m going into this season expecting him to have a ton of mistakes because that’s part of it. He’s thrown into the fire early. He needs time to grow. He’s gonna have these bumps in the road, and he’s gonna have mistakes, like taking the sack and fumble, or throwing an interception, not changing your arm angle on a screen. You have to be able to lean on the run to get the momentum back or to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to take some pressure off of you for the next thing. Now we’re gonna give you some true, good RPO looks or some easy guaranteed completions out here to a hitch. Like, we’re going to find ways to build you, your confidence back up.’ You definitely gotta be able to lean on the run with this kid and allow him to, like I, I’ve, I’ve been saying, grow organically throughout the season.”
Russell has led Alabama to two wins, despite him having some growing pains. The Crimson Tide’s defense and its rushing attack stepped up in a major way down the stretch against Kentucky to make up for some of the mistakes committed by Russell early in the game.
The former five-star will get his next shot at continued growth Saturday when the Tide takes on Florida State.
