Alabama wasn’t able to land a quarterback in its most recent recruiting class, so it appears the Crimson Tide are taking a swing at the graduate transfer tree.
Citing unnamed sources, al.com is reporting that Alabama is in hot pursuit of Gardner Minshew. That pursuit falls in line with Nick Saban stating after National Signing Day that he would likely add another player to the quarterback room prior to the start of summer camp.
On Jan. 30, East Carolina announced that Minshew had withdrawn from school to tend to a personal matter in his home state of Mississippi. At the time, Pirates head coach Scottie Montgomery stated "[t]he door will certainly remain open for him to return to ECU.”
Alabama’s interest in a grad transfer at the position will do nothing to quell the rumors that Jalen Hurts, the starter for each of the last 29 games over the past two seasons, is a potential candidate for a transfer. Hurts was benched in favor of Tua Tagovailoa in the national championship game, with the true freshman’s comeback heroics signaling a likely changing of the guard at the position.
As for Minshew, he started five games for the Pirates last season, throwing for 2,140 yards, 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions in completing just over 57 percent of his 304 pass attempts. Prior to his departure from ECU, he was penciled in as the Pirates’ 2018 starting quarterback.