Keelon Russell will start at quarterback for Alabama in the upcoming season, ESPN reported Saturday.
The sophomore, named the No. 2 quarterback and No. 2 player in the Class of 2025 by the 247Sports composite, bested senior Austin Mack in the quarterback competition.
Alabama needs a new starting quarterback after Ty Simpson departed and was selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams as the potential succesor to Matthew Stafford.
The 6-foot-3, 207-pound Russell played sparingly as a freshman, seeing action in two blowout games — a 73-0 defeat of Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 6 and a 56-0 win over Eastern Illinois on Nov. 22. He was 11-of-15 passing for 143 yards and two touchdowns, and he carried the ball three times for 17 yards.
Russell played at Duncanville High School in Texas, where he won two state championships and was named the 2024-25 Gatorade National Player of the Year. As a senior, he threw for more than 3,000 yards and nearly 50 touchdowns. As a junior, he was 180-of-243 passing for 3,267 yards and 35 touchdowns.
Alabama finished the 2025 season with an 11-4 record and was ranked No. 9 in the final Associated Press poll. The Crimson Tide are No. 13 in the preseason poll.
The 6-foot-6, 237-pound Mack was the backup to Simpson last season and appeared in four games, throwing for 228 yards on 24-of-32 passing with two touchdowns.
From Folsom High School in California, the 247Sports composite listed Mack as a four-star prospect and the No. 8 quarterback in the 2023 class. He began his career at Washington that year, then joined Kalen DeBoer in Tuscaloosa when the head coach left the Huskies for the Crimson Tide.
Alabama opens the season at home against East Carolina on Sept. 5.