Amid Tua Tagovailoa retirement rumors, Nick Saban reveals why he started the Dolphins QB over Jalen Hurts

During his 17-season stint with Alabama, former coach Nick Saban developed several talented quarterbacks in the program. One of the best periods for the Crimson Tide was when they had both Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts on the roster.

On Friday, Nick Saban, on the 'Pat McAfee Show,' talked about Florida's QB dilemma between Graham Mertz and freshman DJ Lagway. Saban compared this situation to the time when he had to decide between Hurts and Tagovailoa and how Tagovailoa earned the QB1 spot over Hurts.

"You know, when we played Tua and took Jalen Hurts out after he was 26-2 as a starter, we kind of knew that was happening, okay," Saban said.

"It just didn't happpen in a moment. You know, Tua was gaining the confidence of the team. The skill guys liked him because he could throw it. The situation came up in a game where we could put him there."

After Tagovailoa won Crimson Tide a national championship during the 2017 season, he replaced Hurts as the starting QB for the 2018 campaign. Hurts then replaced Tagovailoa during the SEC championship game after getting injured and led the Crimson Tide to a comeback victory against Georgia.

Tua Tagovailoa was drafted by the Miami Dolphins as the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. There are rumors about his retirement circulating following his third concussion incident. He was taken out in the third quarter during their game against the Buffalo Bills.

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Nick Saban made his thoughts clear on the Florida QB dilemma

Nick Saban shared his thoughts and opinions on the Florida Gators choosing the best QB1 between DJ Lagway and Graham Mertz.

Lagway put up an incredible performance in the week 2 game against Samford. Despite this, Mertz has been named as the starting QB for Florida's game against Texas A&M.

According to Nick Saban, Billy Napier needs to consider which quarterback has the better cohesion with the team. He also emphasized how well the quarterback performs in the team's offense and how much the other players trust him.

"Well, I think you got to make the decision on technical execution. I mean we don't see these guys practice every day so we don't know how they're doing in practice. We don't know what their inconsistencies are," Saban said.

"We don't really know how well they know the offense. Can they manage the whole offense, do the players that are playing around them have the confidence in them? You know, all those things are factors in terms of, you know, your team buying into a certain player."

While Graham Mertz is the QB1 for week 4, Billy Napier announced that DJ Lagway will also get significant playing time as the season progresses. Will the freshman take over Mertz's role as the QB1 of the Gators?