Alabama Quarterback Named Most Important Player in College Football in 2026, According to ESPN’s Bill Connelly

Alabama opens fall camp this week, with all eyes directed on the quarterback battle between senior Austin Mack and sophomore Keelon Russell. Yesterday, we set the stage for the Crimson Tide's quarterback battle, evaluating what each QB brings to the table and how they can win the job.

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READ MORE: Setting the Stage for Alabama's QB Battle in Fall Camp

On Tuesday, ESPN's Bill Connelly revealed his list of the 40 most important college football players this season. Sitting atop his list is the former five-star quarterback who saw action in just two games last season for the Crimson Tide: Keelon Russell. Russell spent a season riding the bench as the third-string quarterback, learning from head coach Kalen DeBoer, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, and quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan while watching Ty Simpson lead an Alabama offense that struggled to run the football. Despite Alabama's worst rushing season in decades, Simpson still led Alabama to an 11-4 record, throwing for 3,567 yards and 28 touchdowns.

"I've been giving this answer away all offseason. Russell was one of 2025's top prospects and spent a redshirt year watching everything Ty Simpson had to do to carry the weakest Alabama offense in years to the College Football Playoff. Now he has to do the same with an even less proven skill corps and a brand-new offensive line," Connelly wrote for ESPN. "Recruiting rankings tell us there's plenty of raw talent here, and the Bama run game can't get any worse than it was in 2025. But while Russell hasn't even officially won the job yet, he might be the only guy with the upside to drive this offense to solid heights. If he's not awesome, Alabama probably isn't either."

Russell wasn't the only Alabama player on Connelly's list, with junior wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams coming in at No. 12 after a disappointing 2025 season where he caught 49 passes for 689 yards and four touchdowns after a freshman campaign that saw him haul in 48 receptions for 865 yards and 10 total touchdowns,

Coleman-Williams is the only wide receiver on Alabama's roster with significant starting experience, starting all 13 games as a freshman in 2024 and 12 games in 2025. No other player in Alabama's current wide receiver room has started more than six games, except NC State transfer Noah Rogers, who will miss the start of the season after an A-Day injury.

"The first non-QB on this list will desperately need to help the first player on this list," Connelly wrote for ESPN. "Coleman-Williams suffered the worst drop rate of any highly targeted receiver in 2025 (13.0%), and after averaging an otherworldly 5.0 yards per route in his first five collegiate games -- for reference, Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith has averaged 3.3 yards per route for his career -- Coleman-Williams has averaged an extremely mediocre 1.5 ever since. Nothing in the world would help Keelon Russell's cause more than a dynamic and confident No. 1 receiver."

Former Alabama defensive lineman James Smith also came in at No. 20 for Ohio State, and new Alabama defensive lineman Devan Thompkins was listed among "others" that Connelly listed as his most important players.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.