Jumbo Package: Let the QB competition begin

Happy Tuesday, everyone. The hoops team hosts Ole Miss tonight, and we will have a preview of that one later per usual. Nate Oats is pulling no punches with his team about looking past the Rebels.

Add in the outside anticipation of suddenly unranked-Kentucky on Saturday and this has all the symptoms of a trap game. Oats acknowledged that fact while noting not one word has been spoken about the visit from the Wildcats ahead of Tuesday’s game.

“If we’re overlooking Ole Miss to get to Kentucky,” Oats said Monday, “we’re 100% going to lose.”

Alabama is favored by 12 in the game.

On the football side, the quarterback competition begins now that Bryce has officially declared.

The conversation shifted to the offseason. His goal is simple.

“Overall, just get 1% better each and every day,” Milroe said. “Just collab with the team, find our identity, come together as a team and just build on each day we have together.”

Winning the locker room and the offense is always a huge part of claiming that top quarterback job. If there were any questions as to who would be the starter in 2020, Mac Jones took charge by organizing workouts and throwing sessions during that disjointed offseason. He had the edge there over Young, the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2020 signing class.

Milroe will get the first look, but he will need to show marked improvement if he is to be the guy. We shall see how it goes.

Bryce Young and Will Anderson may well go 1-2 based on the projected draft order.

The Houston Texans and Chicago Bears are currently in the driver’s seat for the top two picks. The Texans could certainly use a franchise quarterback reset in the aftermath of Deshaun Watson’s exit, and Bears happen to rank last in the NFL in sacks with 20, so a pass rusher of Anderson’s quality would unquestionably appeal to general manager Ryan Poles. There is always the possibility that a team could trade up and wreck the symmetry that Young and Anderson represent for the Texans and Bears.

That would be something.

Jim Harbaugh may not be long for Michigan.

After hiring three straight first-time head coaches who failed to produce a winning record in any of their six combined seasons, previous head-coaching experience is almost certainly a prerequisite in the eyes of Denver’s new ownership group. Harbaugh’s success with the 49ers — a 44-19-1 record and a stretch of three straight NFC championship game appearances — would certainly be appealing to a franchise that hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2015.

There is also the Stanford connection. Broncos CEO Greg Penner and his wife, co-owner Carrie Walton Penner, both attended graduate school at the university. Limited shareholder Condoleezza Rice, who is part of Denver’s search committee, also has deep ties to Stanford, where Harbaugh coached from 2007 to 2010. Rice recently helped Stanford conduct its search for long-time coach David Shaw’s replacement.

That choke job against TCU would be a hell of a way to go out.

Last, in case you somehow didn’t see it, the most terrifying moment in football history happened last night when Bills player Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after getting hit in the chest. Not going to link a video of that here, but this is the latest on his condition.

The game between the Bills and Bengals, which has significant playoff implications, was postponed with Cincy leading 7-3 in the first quarter. There were reports that the NFL was pushing the teams to keep playing but they are denying those.

Needless to say, nothing matters other than Damar’s health. Hopefully he is able to make a full recovery. Former hockey player Chris Pronger made it through a similar incident.

Indeed.

That’s about it for now. Have a great day.

Roll Tide.