Does Alabama Really Need a Transfer QB for 2016?

For the first seven years of head coach Nick Saban's era in Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama became known for quarterback stability.

John Parker Wilson handed the job over to Greg McElroy after two seasons with Saban, McElroy passed the torch to AJ McCarron after winning a national championship in 2009 and McCarron claimed two more crystal footballs in 2011 and 2012.

Since McCarron left after the 2013 season, though, instability has reigned supreme for the Crimson Tide. Jake Coker transferred from Florida State prior to the 2014 season and was supposed to be the man for the job, but he was beaten out by Blake Sims, who promptly led the Tide to the SEC title.

Coker finally won the job as a senior in 2015, followed the same path as Sims and will play in a national semifinal later this month.

The next Crimson Tide quarterback also could come from the transfer market.

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According to FoxSports.com's Bruce Feldman, Montana State quarterback Dakota Prukop took the red-eye from Portland, Oregon late Saturday night and Sunday morning to have an official visit with Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Sunday night, the day before the NCAA's recruiting dead period hits.

"Alabama visit was great," Prukop told Feldman. "Historic program, it is an honor to be wanted by coach (Nick) Saban. I’m extremely blessed to be in this situation with these two outstanding programs."

Is this really the path Saban wants to go down?

No.

Nothing against Prukop. He threw for 3,025 yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 picks last season for the Bobcats, and he rushed for 797 yards and 11 touchdowns, according to the NCAA's site for FCS statistics.

But whether it's with Prukop out of the FCS or somebody out of the FBS graduate transfer market, Alabama should focus on the present and future with the quarterbacks who are already on campus, and stop trying to put Band-Aids on its quarterback position every offseason.

Is Blake Barnett suddenly not an option for the Tide?

The former 5-star prospect from California enrolled last January, and he has all of the tools to be a superstar for the Crimson Tide. He redshirted this year as Coker and Cooper Bateman took the snaps for the Tide, but the pro-style passer initially was rated as a dual threat by 247Sports during the recruiting process.

If Saban and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin are dead-set on finding pro-style passers who can use athleticism to mix in some dual-threat concepts, why not focus on the guy who was brought in to be "the future" less than a year ago?

"Blake is a great player," safety Geno Matias-Smith told 247Sports' Charlie Potter earlier this year. "He’s fast, he can really throw the ball and I’m sure he’ll definitely have a great career here when his time comes."

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If his time isn't now, when will it be?

Saban lured Coker to Tuscaloosa two years ago. Just last offseason, according to ESPN's Brett McMurphy, he entertained the notion of bringing in another transfer, including former Notre Dame signal-caller Everett Golson—who wound up at Florida State.

Saban already has Barnett, Bateman and David Cornwell on the roster—all of whom were rated as 4-star prospects or higher. If he annually hits the quarterback free-agent market too, he's willingly creating a massive logjam at the quarterback position that could lead to multiple transfers and depth-chart problems that no program wants.

If that trio of highly touted signal-callers suddenly isn't good enough, the staff probably should take a closer look at its own evaluation process.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com and recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.