A question that dominated Alabama football offseason headlines has been answered, if only temporarily. According to a report from ESPN’s Chris Low, the Crimson Tide will start Jalen Milroe at quarterback for Week 1 against Middle Tennessee State.

Last night, Saban revealed on his weekly radio show “Hey Coach” what he had told Milroe in the leadup to Saturday and how he can keep the title of QB1 moving forward.

“The life of a quarterback, any quarterback, depends on how they perform. So, if a guy plays well, that’s what creates security at that position,” Saban said. ” … A guy’s gotta understand that the way he performs is really, really important. All three guys have made significant improvements. Would like to play more than one guy in the game. I’ve told the guy who’s going to start the game, we want you to play well enough so we have an opportunity to play all the guys at the position because that’s important for us.”

Milroe was the incumbent in UA’s quarterback battle between sophomore Ty Simpson, transfer Tyler Buchner and surging freshman Dylan Lonergan. Milroe was the only thrower of the bunch to start a game for Nick Saban and though Milroe had room for growth, his athleticism and arm strength were enough to convince coaches, including new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.

Milroe has completed 57% of the passes in his career with seven total touchdowns (six passing, one rushing). He’s appeared in 12 games, notably propelling UA past Arkansas on the road last October and helping the Tide outlast Texas A&M a week later while Bryce Young was injured.

“I think Jalen has made a significant amount of improvement. I think he’s more comfortable in the pocket. He has more confidence in the way he executes and the way he plays,” Saban said of Milroe on Aug. 28. “He’s been more consistent in the way he’s played and I think that’s going to be the key of the drill for him to be able to maintain that consistency in every practice so that he is developing the kind of habits that are going to carry over in the game and help him be successful.”

As Saban has repeated throughout the competition, whoever ran out under the Bryant-Denny Stadium lights first wasn’t the quarterback “in perpetuity.” In fact, as history has demonstrated, Alabama will keep evaluating the throwers until the coaching staff is “forced” to play one over the others. But Milroe, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound redshirt sophomore from Katy, Tx., has earned the first opportunity.

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