Why is Jalen Milroe not starting for Alabama? Analyzing Nick Saban's potential strategies for Week 3

The Alabama Crimson Tide look to be making a massive change to their starting lineup, as they're replacing quarterback Jalen Milroe with Tyler Buchner. That's happening after just two games, and Milroe has been playing pretty well to begin the season.

There're a lot of different ideas surrounding why Nick Saban is making the switch at the quarterback spot so soon. In this artcile, we're going to discuss a few potential ideas to try to make sense of the switch.

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Alabama needs a spark coming off the Texas loss

The Alabama Crimson Tide cannot afford another loss this season if they want to make the College Football playoffs. With the Georgia Bulldogs in the Southeastern Conference and expected to get one of the four spots, it will be difficult to see another SEC team there.

Jalen Milroe struggled last week against the Texas Longhorns, as he was just 14-of-27 (51.9 completion percentage) for 255 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions through the air and 15 carries for 44 yards on the ground.

It felt throughout last week's game that Milroe was not fully grasping the offense, so getting a spark from the backup quarterback could be what's happening.

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Tyler Buchner understands the offense better than Jalen Milroe

Tyler Buchner did transfer to Alabama during the spring from Notre Dame and did not have a lot of time to get used to things before the season. However, it's possible that Buchner has a better grasp with this offense than Milroe has been able to do.

Buchner is not the only person to come from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish last season, as offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was there as well. That gives Tyler Buchner a leg-up as a lot of the play designs, and calls are going to be from the offensive strategy Buchner and Rees used last season.

It seems like it was a decision made pretty early in the week, as Tyler Buchner was getting most of the first-team reps throughout practice. Jalen Milroe could not afford to look as disappointing as he did on a national stage.

The Crimson Tide need to bounce back if they want to be in the top four. They have already fallen to tenth entering this game. They cannot afford to fall back much more if they want to still be in the mix with some other teams that will have just one loss over the season.

It will be interesting to see how they play against the South Florida Bulls.