How Alabama football has adjusted to life after Tua with Mac Jones

Only Alabama football could lose a legendary player like Tua Tagovailoa and not experience a drop-off as Mac Jones has continued the high level of play.

Replacing a legend is never easy to do in any sport, but the pressure of playing quarterback at a marquee program is especially difficult. Finding one elite quarterback can be more about luck than skill, and recruiting rankings are quickly proven to be worthless when fall comes around and reality hits the position has almost no margin for error. There’s a reason it took even Nick Saban so many years to find Tua Tagovailoa.

Tagovailoa completely changed how Alabama played the game forever. The dynamic passer stepped in for an experienced Jalen Hurts as a freshman in the national title game and delivered a game-winning performance. He proceeded to smash records and torch defenses as the program hit a new standard and struck fear into every opponent he played.

Alabama went from Tua Tagovailoa to Mac Jones and didn’t miss a beat

Saban embraced modern passing concepts and learned to spread the field with his premier athletes. Alabama had at least four first-round talents at receiver last year, and the offensive side of the ball has never looked so stacked as recent depth charts. Tagovailoa’s departure could’ve cost the Tide all of the explosiveness, though, had they reverted back to a less-competent passer and stuck to aggressive tendencies.

His heir, Mac Jones, has certainly not disappointed in the 287 attempts he’s had in the last year. He’s a much different player than Tagovailoa was despite sharing the same offensive coordinator and similar talent around him. We’re breaking down how the Tide have survived in the post-Tagovailoa life.

Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian‘s done an excellent job tailoring this offense to Tagovailoa and now Jones. Tagovailoa was a premier passer in all regards, but especially on timing routes on short and intermediate concepts. His anticipation and accuracy were among the best we’ve seen in college football over the last decade.

He also had playmaker capabilities and that’s what made him so unique. His ability to take over games or hit chunk plays by extending plays is rarely paired with efficiency, but Tagovailoa could win both ways.

Jones has shown serious deep-ball ability through five games this year and has been more proficient at intermediate (11-19 yard) passes than expected. Sarkisian has done well to manufacture open receivers in space, and the offensive line has been fantastic in pass blocking. But Jones also needs credit for becoming a big-play quarterback that completes almost 80 percent of attempts.

Let’s breakdown some of the differences from last year to this year. Tagovailoa’s attempts by air yards looked like this: 27.5 percent were screens, 40 percent from 0-10 yards, 18.5 percent on 11-19 yards, and 14 percent went beyond 20 yards. Tagovailoa’s rolled outside of the pocket almost twice as often as Jones did.

His 2018 season featured a higher yard per average attempt, but efficiency and mastery of the scheme became apparent in 2019.

Jones’ splits look vastly different this season. 33 percent of his passes have come behind the line of scrimmage, 26 percent are from 0-10 yards, almost 30 percent are intermediate, and 11 percent are deep. Jones has utilized play-action on a whopping 56 percent of passes compared to Tagovailoa’s 35 percent rate.

These are two vastly different approaches. Jones’ numbers have been boosted by all the dump-off passes but he’s been so good throwing deep and creating big plays, it’s easier to look away from his deficiencies. He’s been an excellent bridge and his chemistry with DeVonta Smith and John Metchie III couldn’t be better.

Alabama uses a ton of sweep motion with Najee Harris to draw safeties’ attention, and then the speed outside, especially when Jaylen Waddle was healthy, would quickly zip upfield to open field. Jones is a slow processor still but he’s been extremely effective with schemed targets. This is why he’s getting real first-round buzz for the 2021 NFL draft already.

The chunk plays have helped him overcome inconsistency reading defenses and getting the ball in the right spot on shorter routes. The line has kept him clean as well as can be expected, with half his six sacks being his own fault for holding the ball too long. It’s clear last year’s playing time has helped him overcome major concerns entering this season.

There’s still plenty of positives though and it’s possible his weaknesses are a complete non-factor until the College Football Playoff. Losing Waddle hurts but there’s not a major threat left on their regular-season schedule. Playing Clemson or Ohio State would change that because they’re able to go man-to-man against these receivers and play physically.

Short of that, Jones has given every reason to believe he’s a gamer who rises to the occasion and competes with big plays. His strong arm and nice touch past 10 yards have already led to massive production and backbreaking plays. Looking at the Texas A&M beatdown shows exactly how demoralizing it is when a quarterback can deliver accurate passes when under pressure.

The run game has continued their success as well. Najee Harris is leading the nation with 595 yards and 14 touchdowns, and the outside zone and sweep motion play into his vast skill set. He continues to bulldoze through defenders while also providing a legitimate receiving threat for Jones. He’s having an impact year like Clyde Edwards-Helaire had last year for LSU.

This Alabama team is scary good and better than what most though, even with a defense that’s not nearly up to Saban’s high standards. Jones is to thank for that. A bad game from the junior could lead to a loss since the defense has been disturbingly ineffective at slowing offenses down but he’s shown no intention of having an off-day.

Upcoming battles against LSU and Auburn will be intriguing tests for the Tide but no one looks even close to the same talent level to this point. Could it be the first year since 2009 that Saban goes undefeated? It’d be a remarkable feat after losing Tagovailoa and a slew of playmakers to the NFL.

He looks like he’ll have the chance thanks to a terrific coaching job by Sarkisian and development by Jones.

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