The Dark-Horse Contender in Alabama's 2015 Quarterback Race

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — As Alabama’s spring practice enters its last week before the long offseason ahead, there hasn’t been too much focus on the quarterback race so far. Especially not as much as there was last year, when AJ McCarron left after a decorated career.

The Crimson Tide have had plenty of other problems to worry about, like the other eight starters they’ll be replacing on offense, the three arrests and two subsequent dismissals, or the two long-term knee injuries to key players.

But as the battle under center has largely played out in the shadows so far, a dark-horse contender for the job is very much emerging on the inside.

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What looked like a race between Jake Coker and the field has seen a major push from an unsuspecting candidate: redshirt freshman David Cornwell.

Cornwell has been injured or on the bench for most of his short time in Tuscaloosa, but now healthy and with an opportunity to shine, Cornwell is impressing and has a very legitimate chance at the starting job in 2015.

“He has done probably as good a job as anybody this spring,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said Saturday after Alabama’s second spring scrimmage. “He’s very bright, has a great understanding of the offense, does a great job from a leadership standpoint of helping other players play better when he’s in there. And he has played smart for the most part all spring.”

That scrimmage, which was closed to all but a select few members of the public, was when Cornwell had his time to shine and showed what those inside the program think of his development.

During a warmup period seen by reporters prior to the scrimmage, Cornwell was taking snaps with the first-team offensive line. And that proved indicative of Cornwell’s standing at the scrimmage.

A source inside the scrimmage said that Cornwell took the first snaps at quarterback and was essentially a starter for one of the scrimmage teams. On an overall rough day for the quarterbacks, the source said, Cornwell continued to play meaningful snaps and made several nice throws.

In a photo of the scrimmage released by UA, Cornwell is seen working against first-team defensive lineman D.J. Pettway, who is being blocked by first-team tight end O.J. Howard:

Photo courtesy UA Athletics

“It was going to be interesting today to see, we put him in situations today where, even though he doesn’t have game experience, how he would handle those things, and in some cases he did a really good job,” Saban said afterwards. “A couple of other times I’m sure he’s going to learn from that experience and have a chance to do better. So we’re really encouraged by the progress he’s made all spring.”

That bump up in the rotation is a far cry from the seniority order we have seen so far. For the most part of the spring, quarterbacks worked from Coker down to early enrollee Blake Barnett in order of class standing.

Photo courtesy 247Sports

Cornwell jumping Cooper Bateman and Alec Morris for the day shows at least some form of movement at this point in the quarterback competition and signals that he has a very real shot at winning the starting job.

His status in the quarterback race is surprising.

There was little buzz around the former 4-star from Norman, Oklahoma, coming into the offseason.

He came in as one of the crown jewels of Alabama’s 2014 class. At the time, Cornwell was the highest-rated quarterback Saban had ever signed. He was a pro-style quarterback and seemed to fit the mold of McCarron—a so-called “game manager” that could make plays when needed and play an overall smart game.

Then a couple of things happened.

Lane Kiffin came in, opened up the offense and Blake Sims led a record-setting offense using his legs to run a dynamic system. Alabama signed 5-star and mobile prospect Blake Barnett and, as so frequently happens in the short-attention-span recruiting cycle, Cornwell became an afterthought.

He’s also battled several injuries that, up until now, have hindered his development and limited what he could show off in practice.

In high school, Cornwell tore an ACL that cut his senior season short. He spent much of last year’s spring practice limited after enrolling in January.

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To compound matters, he suffered an ankle injury during that spring that required surgery after A-Day, according to Marq Burnett of the Ledger-Enquirer.

During the fall, he was relegated to scout-team duties, simulating passing downs while Bateman handled the dual-threat role, per Burnett.

Now fully healthy, though, Cornwell is showing off the skills that made him such a highly rated prospect out of high school.

He told Burnett after the Sugar Bowl:

"

I'm there to compete everyday with all the quarterbacks. But getting better each day is my priority, not worrying about the spot, the No. 2 spot, No. 3 or anything. I'm just here to get better as a quarterback because even if you get the job here, you're going to have to beat someone out in the (NFL) draft or even in life. I'm just keeping my head down, working to be the best quarterback I can be and seeing where it takes me.

"

Right now, it’s taking him into the front lines of Alabama’s quarterback competition, where he has emerged as a very real threat to win the starting job.

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes and reporting were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.