Alabama football still hasn’t named a starting quarterback for the 2023 season. When the Crimson Tide take the field for A-Day, fans will be eager for any insight into who holds the edge on the job whether it’s Jalen Milroe or Ty Simpson.

One way to do so may be to look at which player is with the first-team offense on Saturday, normally Team Crimson. A few days before the annual scrimmage, Alabama coach Nick Saban made sure to establish that isn’t 100% the case.

“Look, we split up the squads at A-Day so we get maximum reps for most of the players. Which does not really mean that the entire first team is on one team and the entire first team is on the other team,” Saban said. “It means that if we have certain guys at certain positions and we can manipulate them around to get reps for those guys by playing more of the game, because we split the squads up that way, then that’s the way we do it.

“We try to play first teams against the first teams and second teams against the second teams so its a competitive game. We had a draft yesterday for all the staff, coaching staff, support staff, recruiting staff, training staff, everybody got picked. You got your team for steak on Monday and your team for beans and paper plates and plastic forks and spoon. You want a tablecloth? You want a steak? You want a baked potato? You want a dessert? You gotta win.”

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Saban addressed the mobility of quarterbacks as well as the importance of ball security when discussing Milroe and Simpson’s evaluation last weekend. Milroe has the experience edge with eight games, including one start a year ago against Texas A&M. Simpson has excited people with his athleticism and arm strength that made him a five-star prospect in 2021.

With the spring transfer portal window open, any non-SEC quarterback is eligible to play for the Tide this fall. Saban was asked for his “confidence level” with the rostered quarterbacks ahead of the scrimmage and while he didn’t tip his hand about a potential transfer at QB, he did say earlier in his press conference that transferring isn’t the “one-way street” many players think it is and Alabama could address needs through the portal.

“We have confidence in the guys that we have in the program. They’ve worked hard all spring. They’ve had very, very good moments where they’ve shown some consistency and ability to make plays. And there’s been obvious situations where we have work to do and things to work on,” Saban said.

A-Day is set for 2 p.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Admission is free for fans and will air on SEC Network+.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].