Alabama football coach Nick Saban likely won't reveal a starting quarterback until the Crimson Tide kick off the season against Louisville in the 2018 Camping World Kickoff on Saturday. If the choice ends up being sophomore Tua Tagovailoa over junior Jalen Hurts, ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit thinks that spells doom for every Alabama opponent over the course of next season. Herbstreit, who will provide color commentary for the season opener between the Cardinals and Crimson Tide, appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show on SEC Network Tuesday.
"It sets up on paper for Tua Tagovailoa to be the guy and Alabama to score at will," Herbstreit said. "They will win every game and nobody will have a chance to beat them. If they find a distributor, this is the best offense Nick Saban has had."
Herbstreit pointed to Hurts' weakness going through his progressions on plays limiting what the Crimson Tide could do on offense in the past. With Tagovailoa under center, the ESPN pundit forecasts the Alabama offensive attack to go to a higher level.
"In the past it was defense, special teams, field position and Jalen Hurts running around and trying not to make mistakes," Herbstreit said. "If I see Tua (Tagovailoa) trot out there for the first snap, I'll just say to everyone I'm sorry. Because it's going to be a long year, and they're going to score literally 45-50 every game."
While Herbstreit clearly believes Tagovailoa is the better option for the Crimson Tide, the analyst said, on a conference call last week, he wouldn't be surprised if Hurts also sees playing time against Louisville.
“I think they're going to both play, and if one of them starts to kind of be more consistent, then maybe he becomes the guy," Herbstreit said. "But as we sit here right now, we're about a week away from their opener, I don't know if anybody knows the answer truly, and I talked with Coach earlier today.
"(Saban) seems to be pretty adamant -- you know, he always likes to say, I want to see a guy win the team. Which one of these guys is going to win the team in camp? It sounds like they're both winning the team. So it would be unprecedented for Coach to go from being I want to see who wins the team -- he's always had these quarterback controversies and eventually picks a guy, whether it's (Jake) Coker or Blake Sims or whoever it is."
The ultimate winner of the quarterback job will have a plethora of weapons to work with, including senior running back Damien Harris who has led Alabama in rushing yards for the past two seasons.
“This might be the best offensive skill that they have," Herbstreit said. "They're four-deep at running back. They're three- or four-deep at tight end. They've got four of the best receivers that they've had. They've got a great offensive line.
"If they find a guy that can just be a distributor, just -- again, we don't need anybody to run around. We don't need anybody to do anything crazy. Distribute the ball. Find the open man. Have an answer."
Alabama fans will finally get one on Saturday.