Nick Saban's message is the same as the one he repeated so often last year when asked about the competition for the starting quarterback job.
What he said Monday about this current quarterback competition: "The guy that wins the quarterback job is going to be the guy that wins the team over with his ability to play on a consistent basis, make the kind of choices and decisions, show the kind of leadership to affect other people."
Saban has had positive things to say through the early part of spring practice about all three of the primary contenders for the job: redshirt freshman Blake Barnett, redshirt sophomore David Cornwell and redshirt junior Cooper Bateman.