Nick Saban Hasn't Given 'Any Thought' to Possibility of Alabama Playing 2 QBs

Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban said Wednesday he hasn't decided how to deploy his two primary quarterbacks, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts, throughout the 2018 season.

Charlie Potter of 247Sports provided comments from Saban regarding whether he's made a final determination about how to handle the QB situation.

"No, I haven't given it any thought right now," he said. "We've got two guys competing at the position. I'm not going to speculate on things that may or may not happen. We have a lot of choices and decisions and things we have to make, so we're not going to really answer questions that are hypothetical in nature, which you seem to love to ask."

In March, Saban told Chris Low of ESPN.com the Tide could find a way to include both quarterbacks in the weekly game plan if the coaching staff felt it would help the team win.

"The most important thing is to play the best guy, and if both guys can play winning football, it's not out of the question that we'll find a role for both guys in fairness to both guys," he said. "I don't know that there's any more to it than that."

Hurts was Bama's primary QB for most of last season. He completed 60.4 percent of his throws for 2,081 yards with 17 touchdowns and one interception across 14 games. He added 855 rushing yards and eight scores on the ground.

He struggled during the first half of the CFP National Championship Game against the Georgia Bulldogs, however, which led Saban to play Tagovailoa after halftime.

The freshman shined with three touchdown passes as Alabama stormed back for a 26-23 overtime victory. His performance immediately raised questions about the team's plans for 2018.

All told, Tagovailoa has more upside, but he suffered a setback with a lingering hand injury during spring practice. So his recovery progress before the fall could determine his early-season playing time.

It also makes a scenario where both quarterbacks play in the same game more likely, at least to open the year.

Alabama will start its latest title defense Sept. 1 against the Louisville Cardinals.