The Alabama Crimson Tide made an announcement this week that has all of college football buzzing.

For the second year in a row, head coach Kalen DeBoer had a major decision to make at the most important position on the field.

A quarterback controversy that began from the moment Ty Simpson declared for the NFL Draft finally came to an end when the program announced former five-star sophomore Keelon Russell had beaten out rising senior Austin Mack to the the main man to lead this offense.

The announcement seemed to be trending that way for the several weeks prior, but now that Russell is officially the starting quarterback, it’s worth taking a look at where he comes from.

Originally committed to play for SMU, Russell’s flip to Alabama made him the first quarterback DeBoer recruited to Tuscaloosa.

At the time, he was already coming off a dynamic junior season in which he led Texas powerhouse Duncanville to its second consecutive state title, but he was still just a three-star at the time.

Committing to Alabama put the national spotlight on him for his senior season, and he responded with a year in which he put up some absolute video game numbers.

After throwing for over 4,000 yards with 55 touchdowns and just four interceptions as a senior and going on to win MVP at the Elite 11 quarterback competition as well as being named Gatorade Player of the Year in Texas, Russell had risen all the way up to be one of the highest-rated players in the entire country.

By the time he actually signed with Alabama, Russell had become the highest-rated quarterback recruit in program history, even surpassing guys like Bryce Young and Tua Tagovailoa in terms of high school prospect status.

While this of course does not guarantee success, it does put into perspective the kind of talent that he put on display before even stepping foot on campus.

In his first spring on campus last year, he started to make some noise, but ultimately was too young to win out over the veteran Simpson as a true freshman.

Now, he’s sat a year in the DeBoer system, and he’s been given time to learn and develop in order to be the best possible version of himself ahead of a critical season for the Crimson Tide.

Russell is the kind of talent that simply does not come along every day.

Clearly, he now has the faith and trust both from the coaching staff and his teammates that he gives the team the best chance of success this season.

Whether or not Russell can elevate this team back to national title contention right away remains to be seen, but it’s safe to say Alabama fans can expect an electric brand of offense back in Bryant-Denny Stadium this fall and the potential early start of a Crimson Tide playing career that has as high expectations as any player to come through before.