Don’t sound the alarm on Saban’s Alabama dynasty — but maybe for its incredible

Nick Saban left Tuscaloosa on Thursday afternoon for a quick trip to Kansas City. There, he watched his starting quarterback of the past two years get selected No. 1 in the NFL Draft. This kind of visit creates some great-for-recruiting photo opportunities, and Bryce Young’s selection capped an incredible run for the men who have been QB1 at Alabama since 2016.

Before Young, Mac Jones went No. 15 to the Patriots. Before Jones, Tua Tagovailoa went No. 5 to the Dolphins. Meanwhile, Jalen Hurts — the Alabama starter Tagovailoa supplanted at halftime of the national title game following the 2017 season — was selected by the Eagles in the second round in 2020 and recently signed the richest contract in NFL history. (At least until Lamar Jackson agreed to a bigger one with the Ravens on Thursday.) Even by the standards of a program that has won six national titles since 2009, this is a remarkable streak.

Seven seasons of future NFL starting QBs — with succession plans that allowed the chain to stay unbroken — can spoil even the most spoiled program, which is probably why what we saw Saturday, combined with what happened Thursday, felt so shocking. Following the Crimson Tide’s spring game Saturday, none of Alabama’s four scholarship QBs felt like an obvious 2023 starter. On Thursday, Alabama plucked likely Notre Dame backup Tyler Buchner out of the transfer portal.

The program that has made a habit of having first-rounders waiting in the wings essentially admitted it may not have its guy at the most important position on the field.

Chatting with host Rece Davis on the ESPN set, Saban said that in not so many words.

“We wanted to give our quarterbacks in our program every opportunity to win the job in spring practice,” Saban told Davis. “We felt like we needed to add some competition in the room.” In other words, nobody on the roster won the job this spring.

Jalen Milroe, who started one game as Bryce Young’s backup in 2022, didn’t win it. Ty Simpson, a five-star recruit from the 2022 class, didn’t win it. Freshmen Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan just got to Tuscaloosa from high school in January. So the Tide sought more help.

Buchner makes sense on a lot of levels. Current Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who came to Tuscaloosa from Notre Dame in February, chose Buchner as Notre Dame’s opening day starter in 2022. But a shoulder injury sidelined Buchner, and Drew Pyne took over. Pyne entered the transfer portal prior to the Gator Bowl, so Buchner returned to action and completed 18 of 33 passes for 273 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions in a win against South Carolina.

If this was the entire story — OC’s starting QB follows him to a new location — then it wouldn’t seem like such a red flag for a program that expects to compete for national titles annually. But while Buchner was playing for the Fighting Irish against the Gamecocks in Jacksonville, rumors were swirling that…