They're no longer at Alabama, but former Crimson Tide quarterbacks Blake Barnett and Cooper Bateman are in familiar positions as they compete to earn the starting jobs at Arizona State and Utah, respectively. This time, however, both players hope the competitions end and, perhaps more importantly, are handled differently.
To be clear, both Barnett and Bateman have a lot of respect for Alabama coach Nick Saban as a football coach, but neither of them were happy with the communication they received last year related to their individual situations. When true freshman Jalen Hurts received the bulk of the playing time in Alabama's season-opening 52-6 win against USC, it caught both players off guard.