There haven’t been that many reps to go around in a crowded South Alabama quarterback room this spring, but Jaguars head coach Major Applewhite said he’s seen nice progress out of walk-on Bubba Thompson.

Thompson, a former McGill-Toolen star, joined South Alabama team as a 26-year-old true freshman this spring after eight years playing professional baseball. He’s worked as the Jaguars’ fourth quarterback behind returning starter Gio Lopez and backups Bishop Davenport and Jared Hollins.

Applewhite, a former college quarterback himself, noted that Thompson has been concentrating on nothing but baseball since he graduated from high school. Consequently, the football mindset has been pushed aside since he was in high school.

“I’m going to use this as an example because it’s kind of silly, but I have no idea if a (pitcher is) a fastball-curveball guy and I’m sitting at a one-two count, I have no idea what pitch I’m getting,” Applewhite said. “Bubba does, because he’s done that for the last eight years of his life. He’s done it at the highest level there is on this earth. So he has that.

“Now he’s going back after spending his time in Major League Baseball, and he’s having to figure out, all right, ‘it’s third and four, ball’s on this part of the field. This is what they run defensively. What do you expect?’ And so this is a brand-new world for him. But he’s competitively very intelligent. And so I see him picking up things daily.”

The 6-foot-2, 197-pound Thompson passed for 38 touchdowns as a senior at McGill-Toolen in 2016, when he helped the Yellow Jackets to a berth in the Class 7A state championship game. He had a number of scholarship offers in football, but chose baseball after the Texas Rangers made him a first-round pick in the June 2017 draft.

Thompson reached the major leagues with the Rangers in 2022, and played in 109 games — hitting .232 with four home runs and 27 stolen bases — over three seasons with Texas and the Cincinnati Reds. He was released by the Reds after the 2024 season, and enrolled at South Alabama in January with plans to return to football.

Thompson has shown flashes of his former gridiron brilliance — particularly his elite speed — throughout the spring. During one play in the Jaguars’ second scrimmage on April 5, he broke into the open field on a quarterback keeper that was blown dead after he’d picked up 12 yards and a first down (there is no live tackling on quarterbacks in the spring).

Applewhite also said the mental part of being a quarterback is beginning to return for Thompson.

“He’s like a new guy on the job that doesn’t talk like us to start with,” Applewhite said. “But after about a month, he’s started to talk like us. He’s starting to see some of the same things. He’s starting to sound like a quarterback, because the want-to, the athleticism, the ability to do it, it’s all there. He’s just got to come back (to football). And as much as he’s immersed himself in being a Major League Baseball player — he put in a lot of time to get there.

“There’s not very many humans that can say they played Major League Baseball for as long as he did. So he’s going to take that same energy and that same focus and channel it on football. And I can already see it starting to turn in a positive direction for him.”

South Alabama will hold its “Spring Showcase” on Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium, beginning at 10 a.m. In addition to an hour-plus open practice and skills competition featuring the Jaguars players, the event will also include an Easter egg hunt in the Jaguar Training Center, the school’s annual “Yard Sale” of athletic equipment and apparel, a kids’ football clinic and an autograph session.