Alabama Crimson Tide

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- AJ McCarron is enjoying himself these days. With so many quarterbacks in camp this spring, he has been able to take a step back and relax. After 40 career games and three national championships, it's a nice change of pace. He's a full-fledged veteran now, and that comes with some perks.

"It helps getting a break," said Alabama's rising senior at quarterback. "It's fun to sit back and watch the younger guys compete, watch them grow. It's going to be a fun spring."

Judging from McCarron's first scrimmage -- he reportedly completed 15 of 28 passes for 291 yards, four touchdowns and one interception Saturday -- his comfort level couldn't be any higher.

But beyond him, the competition at quarterback has been tight. Only five practices remain before A-Day, and the question of who will back up McCarron in 2013 remains unanswered.

Blake Sims won the day at Alabama's first scrimmage this past weekend, coming in second to McCarron in passing yards. Sims, a rising junior, was 13-of-19 for 129 yards, a touchdown and an interception. But it's still far too early to call off the competition for the No. 2 spot at quarterback. Since UA doesn't provide full scrimmage statistics, it's impossible to know how the rest of the crop of young quarterbacks performed. Presumably Phillip Ely, Alec Morris, Cooper Bateman, Parker McLeod and Luke Del Rio took snaps under center. The fact that Sims finished second in passing Saturday simply might have been an indication of the game plan from coaches and not the performance on the field.

"What we’ve tried to do is get everybody an equal opportunity," Saban said after the scrimmage. "But we’ve kind of got to pick who is going to get the reps, trying to pick the four guys who are going to get the reps that particular day -- especially with the ones and the twos.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- AJ McCarron has turned into a bit of an elusive figure on the University of Alabama campus. He's everywhere to be seen and nowhere to be reached.

"I've seen him around," said early enrollee Parker McLeod, one of three freshman quarterbacks Alabama welcomed in January. "I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to him. He's been busy."

Winning back-to-back national championships and developing into one of college football's best quarterbacks will do that. Publicly dating a supermodel pushes McCarron well into the threshold of celebrity, past the occasional television spot into the realm of obscure media reports on his parking habits.

Cooper Bateman, the former No. 3-ranked passer in the 2013 class, said he hasn't had the opportunity to talk with McCarron much since arriving on campus. When he did, he got a taste of what it was like to be the quarterback at Alabama.

"AJ's on a whole other level," Bateman explained. "He's a celebrity around here.

"But I had the chance during the [championship celebration] parade, we were walking down University and everyone, I mean everyone, is yelling his name over everything. I just asked him if he ever gets used to it. And he said, 'If you have the opportunity you're going to love it. It's the best four or five years of his life.' "

Alabama head coach Nick Saban told Bateman what it would be like to be the quarterback of the Crimson Tide -- on the field.

"When Saban recruited me from the very start, he said we're looking for someone to come in here, learn the offense, know it inside and out so you can manage the game out there on the field," Bateman said. "When you get out there, you don't even need coaches, because you're so well prepared and knowing what you need to do out there."

Bateman, McLeod and preferred walk-on Luke Del Rio might have to wait a few more weeks to get an audience with McCarron, but the time is coming. Spring practice is right around the corner.

McLeod, a former three-star prospect from Georgia, said he's anxious to begin learning under the All-American and All-SEC quarterback.

"He's an outstanding quarterback, one of the best in the country," McLeod said of McCarron. "So I'm really looking forward to spring practice to pick his mind a little bit."

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