Paul Finebaum isn’t overly optimistic about the quarterback play in Tuscaloosa these days. Granted, it’s mid-April, but the SEC Network analyst has heard and read enough to declare Alabama’s A-Day Game on Saturday as the “most intriguing” of the SEC spring games.

“I’m not crazy about what I’m hearing from (Alabama coach) Nick Saban or anyone else about the quarterback play,” Finebaum told “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” on WJOX in Birmingham on Monday.

Over the weekend, Saban offered his thoughts on what he saw Saturday from quarterbacks Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson.

“They both made some good plays, but they also both made some plays that they probably wish they would have had back,” Saban said. “They’re making progress. They’re improving. I think that they’re developing some confidence in the offense and what they’re supposed to read, and what they’re supposed to do.”

Statements like that leave Finebaum wondering.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the busiest man in the portal right now is Nick Saban looking for a quarterback,” he shared.

Could Alabama land a quarterback from the portal this late into spring?

“It would take something extraordinary,” Finebaum said. “It shows the situation of what Saban missed in the last portal. That was the moment that he needed to take advantage of. Right now, you could get a bizarre entry. But more than likely, you’re not going to. A week from today, I’m really interested in what fans think, what experts think, and really whether we continue thinking that this Alabama team is in the national championship race, or depending on the portal, do we recalibrate that?”

Speaking of the national championship race, Finebaum said the Crimson Tide is in the mix.

“They’re definitely in the race,” he said. “On the low end of Alabama, I think they’re in the top 5-6. That really depends on how you populate Ohio State, USC, Michigan and maybe Clemson or Penn State. The only way I would change that is if we’re sitting here two or three weeks from now and Alabama’s quarterback situation has not changed, and I’m hearing the same concerns out of that camp as I am now.”

Take a listen to the whole full here.

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.