TUSCALOOSA, Ala.– alabama quarterback keylon russellA five-star recruit in 2025 who redshirted while sitting behind the starter ty simpson Last season, he seemed to hit the right buttons during the Crimson Tide’s spring game on Saturday.
Crimson Tide receiver, “Literally, it feels like you’re playing a video game when he’s in there.” Ryan Coleman-Williams Said.
Russell completed 21 of 33 passes for 240 yards, with four touchdowns and one interception. Although the Crimson Tide did not keep official statistics, Russell led his unit to seven scores on nine drives – four TDs, three field goals, one missed field goal and an interception near the goal line.
Despite wearing a noncontact jersey, Russell also played with his feet at times.
Austin MackJoe, who served as Simpson’s backup last season, was “rough” during Saturday’s scrimmage, but still completed 6 of 12 passes for 101 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He led five drives, scoring on two of them, before leaving the game.
“We had to limit Austin to a few things,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “This week was something where Keylon got some more reps because of some of the things Austin was going through. Austin has been good for the most part, but wasn’t able to finish [on Saturday]. But he will be fine.”
Alabama still has two spring practices left this week — and no one expects DeBoer to announce a Week 1 starter any time soon — but Russell will enter summer workouts with momentum.
“He was confident coming in,” Coleman-Williams said of Russell. “…His freshman year, he joined the crowd, and he knew what he was talking about, but it’s a lot as a quarterback. So the way he’s commanded and developed from last year to this year, it’s light years.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
