Nick Saban explains why college QBs struggle in the NFL

The legendary coach says today’s offenses leave young quarterbacks unprepared for the pro level.

Nick Saban has spent decades watching quarterbacks succeed on Saturdays but falter on Sundays. The former Alabama coach, who developed countless NFL draft picks, believes he knows why. During a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Saban broke down why many college quarterbacks fail to translate their success to the NFL.

Saban pointed to the rise of run-pass option plays as one of the biggest culprits. “I think the one thing RPOs did was to take away from quarterbacks needing to be developed as drop-back passers, which in the NFL you eventually have to do,” Saban said. Instead of reading the entire defense, college quarterbacks often focus on one simple read.

He also highlighted the Air Raid-style passing attacks that have swept through college football. “Now the quarterback only reads one side of the field,” Saban explained. That prevents players from learning the advanced coverage recognition and protection adjustments demanded in the NFL.

Finally, Saban stressed that many young quarterbacks don’t develop the ability to diagnose safeties or re-direct protections. “They never learn how to do that in college anymore, which I think really doesn’t help us develop quarterbacks for the NFL like we used to,” he said.

For Saban, it all comes back to preparation. College systems may put up big numbers, but they don’t always prepare quarterbacks for the chess match waiting in the NFL.

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