Most college football teams have wrapped up their 2024 seasons, with only the four College Football Playoff teams and two FCS teams still in contention for the championship. The rest are focused on the offseason, preparing for the next season. One team aiming to qualify for the College Football Playoff next year is the Alabama Crimson Tide. Under Kalen DeBoer’s first year as head coach, Alabama finished with a 9-4 record. DeBoer succeeded the legendary Nick Saban, who retired after the previous season. Throughout much of the year, the team had a strong playoff contender status, but their hopes were crushed with a 24-3 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners (6-7) in their second-to-last game. Alabama’s season was marked by both impressive wins and disappointing losses. On one hand, they scored a huge win over the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs (11-3), but on the other, they fell short against both Oklahoma and Vanderbilt (7-6).
A key factor in the team’s mixed performance was quarterback Jalen Milroe’s inconsistent play. Milroe finished the season with 2,844 passing yards, 16 passing touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, completing 64.8% of his passes. He also rushed for 726 yards and 20 touchdowns. His standout performance came in the win over Georgia, where he completed 81.8% of his passes for 374 yards, two passing touchdowns, and one interception. He also rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns. However, his performance in the loss to Oklahoma was disappointing, completing only 42.3% of his passes for 164 yards, three interceptions, and just seven rushing yards on 15 carries.
SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum shared on “The Paul Finebaum Show” that he believes DeBoer is likely relieved Milroe announced he won’t return next season due to his erratic play. “I’m sure Kalen DeBoer would have rather brought somebody that he feels comfortable with, and it may have worked, and it may have not,” Finebaum said. “Milroe won them a couple of games. He also cost them a couple of games. In the end, I personally think Kalen DeBoer’s happy that he’s gone. He will never say that, though.”
According to ESPN NFL draft expert Mel Kiper, Milroe is ranked as the No. 4 quarterback in the upcoming draft class, behind Shedeur Sanders (Colorado), Cam Ward (Miami), and Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss). The draft is scheduled for April 24-26.
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