Keelon Russell

#12 · QB · So. · Alabama6′3″ · 207 lb · Duncanville, TX

ZPR7410th of 119 QBs HeismanNo. 7in our model Last gameW 31–20vs Texas A&M · Oct 24

Nextat LSUSat Nov 7 · 3:30 pm ET

Graded Solid or better in each of the last two games.

Last game: W 31-20 vs Texas A&M, Oct 24 · 19 of 30 for 311 yards, 3 touchdowns, an interception · 9 carries for 20 yards. Started all eight of Alabama’s games.

Alabama’s next game: at LSU, Sat Nov 7, 3:30 p.m. ET · ABC

Alabama is 6-2 in the eight games played. A playmaker.

Strongest: 16% of throws gain 20 or more yards, 9th best of 158 starters. Weakest: sacked on 8% of dropbacks, 25th highest of 158 starters.

Plays most like Clark ’25, Missouri State 2025.

Passing yards

2,057

148 of 221, 67%

TD–INT

15–5

9.3 per throw

NCAA rating

163.0

20th of 119

ZPR

10th of 119

How ZPR works

Great in 4 of 8 graded games.

1-2 against ranked teams, 206 passing yards a game.

Best by our grade: South Carolina. Lowest: Georgia, sacked 3 times. Biggest game: Georgia, No. 2. Costliest play: Interception, returned for a touchdown, at Kentucky, Q1 10:11. Win chance 66% to 45%.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

East Carolina

W 48–10·Unranked

Great

Passing grade only · 256 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · Rush 13 for 86, 1 TD · Sacked 1

I am once again asking Keelon Russell to please slide
Alabama fan

Biggest swing: a Q1 run added 10 points of win chance. Win chance: 58% to 67%.

Full game page

at Kentucky

W 45–17·Unranked

Solid

188 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT · Rush 8 for -9 · A first-quarter interception took the team's chance of winning from 41% to 18% · Lost a fumble · Sacked 4

Keelon Russell stopped making disastrous mistakes.
Alabama fan

Biggest swing: a Q1 interception cost the team 22 points of win chance. Win chance: 41% to 18%.

Full game page

Florida State

W 50–36·Unranked

Great

320 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT · Rush 3 for 56, 1 TD · Sacked 1

Man Keelon Russell is so bad, right guys? They should just bench him already, no hope at all
Alabama fan

Biggest swing: a Q2 completion added 27 points of win chance. It flipped the game for the team: 39% to 66%.

Full game page

South Carolina

W 49–18·Unranked

Great

Strong start, faded late · 365 yds, 4 TD, 0 INT · Rush 8 for 35, 1 TD · Sacked 1

Keelon Russell for Heisman!
Alabama fan

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 30 points of win chance. It flipped the game for the team: 48% to 78%.

Full game page

at Mississippi State

W 56–23·Ranked #16

Great

285 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT · Rush 5 for 16, 1 TD · Sacked 3

Keelon Russell is your 2028 #1 draft pick. It is written.
Alabama fan

Biggest swing: a Q3 completion added 17 points of win chance. Win chance: 79% to 95%.

Full game page

Georgia

L 17–20·Ranked #2

Solid

Steady all game · 185 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 9 for 41 · Lost a fumble · Sacked 3

Keelon Russell is what we were told Milroe was supposed to be.
Alabama fan

Biggest swing: a Q2 completion added 30 points of win chance. It flipped the game for the team: 29% to 59%.

Full game page

at Tennessee

L 10–26·Ranked #14

Solid

147 yds, 0 TD, 2 INT · Rush 11 for 6, 1 TD · Lost a fumble · Sacked 3

Keelon Russell is so ass when he faces top 10 defenses
Alabama fan

Biggest swing: a Q4 completion added 12 points of win chance. Win chance: 4% to 16%.

Full game page

Texas A&M

W 31–20·Unranked

Solid

311 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT · Rush 9 for 20 · The interception cost about 10 points of win chance · Sacked 2

Biggest swing: a Q4 completion added 34 points of win chance. Win chance: 50% to 84%.

Full game page

Season

Gets better after halftime

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game; on games with a lot of running it grades the passing only. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Playmaker

Also: explosive runner, big-play arm

Why this word

Runs4.5 a gameRarelyA lot

Throws9.7 yards past the lineShortDeep

Completes68% by play-by-playFewerMore

Takes sacks8% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws at a middling depth and runs some. 4.5 carries a game. Closest matches: Clark ’25, Minicucci, Jennings, Kienholz.

Where the throws go

Behind the line17%typical 17%

Short45%typical 47%

Middle21%typical 22%

Deep18%typical 14%

Runs 4.5 times a game; 56% of starters run less.

Closest in style

Nearer the middle means more alike.

Clark ’25 Missouri State 2025 · Balanced
3,244 yards, 28 TD, 11 INT. Both score a lot and take sacks.
Minicucci Delaware · Chain-mover
1,477 yards, 14 TD, 4 INT so far. Both are efficient and complete a lot.
Jennings SMU · Precision passer
2,433 yards, 21 TD, 5 INT so far. Both score a lot and are efficient.
Kienholz Louisville · Dual-threat
2,094 yards, 12 TD, 3 INT so far. Both complete a lot and hit big plays.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

RecordAlabama is 6-2, No. 9 in the AP poll (week 10).
What fans say
Over the last few games, Alabama fans have been high on Russell.
“Keelon Russell is already the best player in the country.”
“Only QB with a K I recognize is Keelon Russell baby 💯💪🏾”
“Keelon Russell is good at football.”
From r/CFB game thread. Read by AI.

What’s being said

8 stories this week, from 8 outlets.

Stories per day.

'Most talented team we've played': LSU head coach Lane Kiffin offers thoughts on Alabama, QB Keelon Russell

247Sports Oct 30

All 384 stories this season

Worth knowing

Keelon Russell was the No. 2 recruit in the country in the 2025 class.

His most important play this season

Q4, 14:55 · Alabama down 3, takes the leadKeelon Russell finds Marshall Pritchett for a 5-yard touchdownTexas A&M at Alabama, week 8Q4, 14:55 · Alabama 24, Texas A&M 20Go-ahead touchdown for Alabama in the fourth quarterGo-ahead touchdown for Alabama in the fourth quarterK.Russell pass complete short middle to M.Pritchett caught at TAM00, for 5 yards to the TAM00 touchdown, kick goodWatch from this play

All 18 of his plays on video

Keelon Russell

QB · Alabama · #12

Filling the Shoesas of Nov 4

Russell posted 2,057 passing yards and 15 touchdowns in his first season as Alabama's starter, inheriting the job from Ty Simpson.

2,057passing yards15passing TD251rushing yards

Passing value per play

+0.52

our model · 2026 · 249 plays

Read the story so far

Russell finished the 2025 season with 2,057 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 251 rushing yards, and a +0.52 passing value per play after taking over from Ty Simpson. The 'Filling the Shoes' characterization fits: the numbers are solid, not transformative. With no dominant fan verdict formed, the real question entering 2026 is whether last season was a foundation or a ceiling.

The answer arrives the moment Alabama's schedule gets hard.

QB successionleap of faith

Inherited fromTy Simpson 5★

AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2026	Alabama	148	221	67.0%	2,057	9.3	15	5	163.0	74
2025	Alabama	11	15	73.3%	143	9.5	2	0	197.4	--
Career		159	236	67.4%	2,200	9.3	17	5	165.2	74

Season	Team
2026	Alabama	66	251	3.8	5	57
2025	Alabama	3	17	5.7	0	9
Career		69	268	3.9	5	57

Last game (Wk 8): 311 passing yards, 3 passing TD, 1 interception.

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	Grade	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	SK	RUSH	Note
Wk 1	W 48-10vs East Carolina	Great	18/30	256	0	0	8.5	—	1	86
Wk 2	W 45-17@ Kentucky	Solid	16/23	188	1	2	8.2	38.9	4	-9
Wk 3	W 50-36vs Florida State	Great	23/30	320	3	0	10.7	96.2	1	56	3 TD passes
Wk 4	W 49-18vs South Carolina	Great	21/27	365	4	0	13.5	98.3	1	35	Season-high 365 yds
Wk 5	W 56-23@ No. 16 Mississippi State	Great	16/22	285	3	0	13.0	96.8	3	16	3 TD passes
Wk 6	L 17-20vs No. 2 Georgia	Solid	16/30	185	1	0	6.2	81.1	3	41
Wk 7	L 10-26@ No. 14 Tennessee	Solid	19/29	147	0	2	5.1	66.3	3	6
Wk 8	W 31-20vs Texas A&M	Solid	19/30	311	3	1	10.4	79.7	2	20	3 TD passes
Total			148/221	2057	15	5	9.3	—	18	251

The latest game

Oct. 24 · W 31-20 vs Texas A&M

19 of 30 for 311 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception; 10.4 yards an attempt, 7th-best in FBS that week.

His season, game by game

The season, game by game

W 31-20 vs Texas A&MOct. 24311 yds19 of 30, 3 TD, 1 INTPlay by play just above · 10.4 yds an attempt, 7th in FBS

L 10-26 at TennesseeOct. 17147 yds19 of 29, 2 INT5.1 yds an attempt, 92nd in FBS

19 of 29 for 147 yards and 2 interceptions.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

6 more games, with the play by play

L 17-20 vs GeorgiaOct. 10185 yds16 of 30, 1 TD6.2 yds an attempt, 72nd in FBS

16 of 30 for 185 yards and a touchdown.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

W 56-23 at Mississippi StateOct. 3285 yds16 of 22, 3 TD13 yds an attempt, 5th in FBS

Play by playOn the field

16 of 22 for 285 yards and 3 touchdowns; 13 yards an attempt, 5th-best in FBS that week. Alabama scored touchdowns on 6 of the 9 drives he played.

6 of 9 of his drives scored
6 of 8 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked 3 times
2 runs for 29 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
TD2 of 2, 21 yds
TD1 of 3, 39 yds1
Second quarterbegan up 14-7
Punt0 of 1, 0 yds
Fumble—
Punt1 of 1, 1 yds2
TD2 of 3, 72 yds34
Third quarterbegan up 28-17
TD5 of 6, 82 yds
TD1 of 1, 10 yds
TD4 of 5, 60 yds
FinalW 56-23

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
39-yard completion to Lotzeir Brooks on 3rd and 19. First quarter, up 14-7. Converted.
2
Sacked for a 1-yard loss on 3rd and 4. Second quarter, up 21-14.
3
50-yard completion to Lotzeir Brooks on 3rd and 6. Second quarter, up 21-14. Converted.
4
22-yard completion to Ryan Williams on 3rd and 5. Second quarter, up 21-14. Converted.

102030405032325039

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 49-18 vs South CarolinaSept. 26365 yds21 of 27, 4 TD13.5 yds an attempt, 4th in FBS

Play by playOn the field

21 of 27 for 365 yards and 4 touchdowns; 13.5 yards an attempt, 4th-best in FBS that week. Alabama scored touchdowns on 6 of the 10 drives he played.

6 of 10 of his drives scored
4 of 8 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked twice
6 runs for 46 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
TD1 of 1, 75 yds1
TD5 of 6, 60 yds2
Second quarterbegan up 14-0
TD3 of 3, 52 yds
TD2 of 3, 39 yds
Punt2 of 2, 8 yds
Third quarterbegan up 35-10
Punt1 of 3, 22 yds
Punt1 of 2, 8 yds
Punt0 of 1, 0 yds
Fourth quarterbegan up 35-10
TD5 of 5, 63 yds
TD1 of 1, 38 yds
FinalW 49-18

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
75-yard touchdown pass to Lotzeir Brooks. First quarter, made it 7-0.
2
6-yard completion to Kaleb Edwards on 3rd and 4. First quarter, up 7-0. Converted.

10203040503675423832

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 50-36 vs Florida StateSept. 19320 yds23 of 30, 3 TD10.7 yds an attempt, 22nd in FBS

23 of 30 for 320 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

W 45-17 at KentuckySept. 12188 yds16 of 23, 1 TD, 2 INT8.2 yds an attempt, 52nd in FBS

Play by playOn the field

16 of 23 for 188 yards, a touchdown and 2 interceptions. He was 3 of 8 on third and fourth down.

6 of 10 of his drives scored
3 of 8 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked 4 times
4 runs for 20 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
Int0 of 1, 0 yds1
Fumble3 of 3, 34 yds
Second quarterbegan tied 7-7
FG3 of 3, 54 yds23
FG2 of 3, 35 yds
Int0 of 1, 0 yds4
Third quarterbegan down 17-13
Punt0 of 2, 0 yds
FG3 of 5, 35 yds
TD1 of 1, 7 yds
Fourth quarterbegan up 31-17
TD3 of 3, 16 yds
TD1 of 1, 7 yds
FinalW 45-17

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
Intercepted on 3rd and 22. First quarter, tied 0-0. Picked off by Kentucky’s Mi'Quise Grace.
2
13-yard completion to Lotzeir Brooks on 3rd and 7. Second quarter, down 14-7. Converted.
3
32-yard completion to Rico Scott. Second quarter, down 14-7.
4
Intercepted. Second quarter, down 14-13. Picked off by Kentucky’s Jordan Castell.

102030405032

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 48-10 vs East CarolinaSept. 5256 yds18 of 308.5 yds an attempt, 62nd in FBS

18 of 30 for 256 yards.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

Highs and lows

Only games with 20 or more plays count for best and lowest.
Best by our grade	South Carolina	W 49-18 · Graded great · Strong start, faded late · 365 yds, 4 TD, 0 INT · Rush 8 for 35, 1 TD · Sacked 1
Lowest by our grade	Georgia	L 17-20 · Graded solid · Steady all game · 185 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 9 for 41 · Lost a fumble · Sacked 3
Biggest game	Georgia	No. 2 at kickoff · L 17-20 · Graded solid · Steady all game · 185 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 9 for 41 · Lost a fumble · Sacked 3
Costliest play	at Kentucky	Interception, returned for a touchdown, Q1 10:11 · Win chance 66% to 45%

Where he ranks

Leads SEC quarterbacks in yards an attempt. 3rd among SEC quarterbacks in passer rating.

Stat	His	Nation	SEC
Passing yards	2,057	18th of 370	3rd of 41
Yards an attempt	9.3	14th of 152	1st of 18
Touchdown passes	15	T-26th of 370	T-7th of 41
Passer rating	163.0	21st of 152	3rd of 18
Completion percentage	67.0	T-36th of 152	T-6th of 18
Rushing yards	251	45th of 370	4th of 41
Rushing touchdowns	5	T-25th of 370	5th of 41

Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game.

All SEC quarterbacks

Rk	Quarterback	Yards	TD	INT	Att	Y/A
1	Trinidad Chambliss	2,189	18	8	296	7.4
2	Sam Leavitt	2,171	17	8	256	8.5
3	Keelon Russell	2,057	15	5	221	9.3
4	Austin Simmons	1,935	16	2	239	8.1
5	Lanorris Sellers	1,849	16	7	243	7.6
6	John Mateer	1,835	13	7	247	7.4
7	Kenny Minchey	1,755	14	1	232	7.6
8	Arch Manning	1,730	15	7	217	8.0
9	KJ Jackson	1,673	7	5	249	6.7
10	Gunner Stockton	1,671	16	4	181	9.2
11	Byrum Brown	1,557	9	7	246	6.3
12	Jared Curtis	1,489	8	8	197	7.6
13	Kamario Taylor	1,460	17	4	159	9.2
14	Marcel Reed	1,388	8	8	222	6.3
15	Aaron Philo	1,367	9	5	156	8.8
16	George MacIntyre	728	2	3	103	7.1
17	Faizon Brandon	697	7	1	101	6.9
18	Tramell Jones Jr.	579	4	3	89	6.5
19	Parker Puckett	390	1	2	74	5.3
20	Blaze Berlowitz	386	1	1	53	7.3
21	Ryan Puglisi	252	2	0	31	8.1
22	Landen Clark	235	1	0	32	7.3
23	AJ Hill	181	1	0	28	6.5
24	Brady Hart	143	2	1	21	6.8
25	Tristan Ti'a	137	0	0	16	8.6
26	Cutter Woods	100	1	1	17	5.9
27	AJ Swann	97	0	0	15	6.5
28	Husan Longstreet	95	0	0	10	9.5
29	Matt Zollers	87	0	0	13	6.7
30	Deuce Knight	68	0	1	8	8.5
31	Ryan Montgomery	66	1	0	6	11.0
32	Karle Lacey Jr.	63	0	0	9	7.0
33	Ryan Staub	27	0	0	3	9.0
34	Lucian Anderson III	24	0	0	2	12.0
35	Austin Mack	23	0	0	4	5.8
36	Nick Evers	18	0	0	2	9.0
37	Whit Muschamp	18	0	0	2	9.0
38	Hezekiah Millender	17	0	0	1	17.0
39	Whitt Newbauer	6	0	0	1	6.0
40	Bowe Bentley	0	0	0	1	0.0
41	Callum Wither	0	0	0	1	0.0

Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.

Passing yards2,0573rd in the SEC this season.

Touchdown passes15tied for 7th in the SEC this season.

Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.

Opponents faced, by strength

Ratings of the games shown run from -4 to +27 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).

Pass targets

Scott and Brooks saw 85 of the 224 charted throws.

Receiver	Targets	Catches	Yards	Throw depth	After catch
Rico Scott	48	26	418	12.6	4.7
Lotzeir Brooks	37	27	465	11.1	6.9
Ryan Williams	28	18	285	9.2	7.5
Marshall Pritchett	20	18	237	9.7	3.4
Kaleb Edwards	14	12	151	7.6	4.7
9 others	44	31	306	6.7	4.8
No receiver charted	33	All five interceptions are among these

Play by play: 224 passes, 150 caught, 2,111 yards; the box score counts 221 attempts. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.

Passing profile

Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

148/221 (67.0%) · 15 TD · 5 INT

All 221 box-score attempts covered (play-by-play lists 224 passing plays)

192 of 224 attempts charted for true throw depth

Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 224 passing plays (150 completions) against the box score's 221 attempts (148 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.

Adjusted ANY/A

8.3234 of 185 QBs

Sack rate

8.3%154 of 185 QBs

Sacked on 8.3% of dropbacks (154 of 185) — and still 34 of 185 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

16% of attempts (31)

81%comp1 INT

Air -2.9 · YAC 9.4 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

45% of attempts (86)

72%comp

Air 5.1 · YAC 3.2 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

21% of attempts (41)

63%comp2 INT

Air 14.9 · YAC 6.2 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

18% of attempts (34)

53%comp2 INT

Air 28.0 · YAC 5.9 avg

Overall 67.0% completion on 221 attempts · 53% completion on 34 deep attempts (20+ air yds).

Situational

Is he a different quarterback when it matters

Each situation vs his own 2026 baseline

No situation moves him more than 11 percentile points from his baseline.

BaselineThis situation

Down 1

-2 pct pts vs baseline · sacks 9/88 (10.2%) · league sack rate 4.5%

Down 2

-7 pct pts vs baseline · sacks 5/74 (6.8%) · league sack rate 5.0%

Down 3+

+11 pct pts vs baseline · sacks 4/65 (6.2%) · league sack rate 8.3%

Deltas are vs. this player’s own season baseline, never a league average. League sack rate by down is shown as context because sack attribution isn’t incompletion-denominated.

Teams and coaches

2 seasons under Kalen DeBoer — 17-6 over that span.

2025Alabama11-4HC: Kalen DeBoer · Balanced

2026Alabama6-2HC: Kalen DeBoer · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 74 (#18 of 145). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

74Quality starter #18 of 145?

13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (95th percentile). Strength: epa / dropback (87th percentile). Concern: sack rate (16th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#8 / 157 · 95th pct

15.6%

EPA / dropback#21 / 157 · 87th pct

0.38

Success rate#38 / 157 · 76th pct

46.7%

Interception rate#82 / 157 · 48th pct

2.2%

Sack rate#132 / 157 · 16th pct

8.2%

Box-score rates (8)

Yards / att#14 / 159 · 92nd pct

9.3

Pass yards#19 / 159 · 88th pct

2057

Rush TDs#19 / 159 · 86th pct

Pass TDs#27 / 159 · 82nd pct

Rush yards#37 / 159 · 77th pct

251

Completion %#37 / 159 · 76th pct

67.0%

Interceptions#87 / 159 · 37th pct

Fumbles lost#114 / 142 · 12th pct

Season trend

EPA / dropback— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Sack rate— first qualifying season

Interception rate— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Zeitgeist Passer Rating

2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.

After 227 dropbacks

74Zeitgeist Passer Rating10th of 119 FBS QBs

NCAA passer rating 163.0 20th of 119 FBS QBs

ZPR ranks this quarterback 10 places higher than passer rating does: positive plays and yards per attempt come at a higher rate than the box line suggests.

Positive-play rate weight 24%

52.2%86th pct of FBS QBs

share of dropbacks that gained expected points · -0.7% schedule adj.

Yards per attempt weight 56%

9.2594th pct of FBS QBs

sacks excluded · +0.1 schedule adj.

Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)

6.5%35th pct of FBS QBs

the input passer rating cannot see · -1.4% schedule adj.

Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (13 of 240 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. How ZPR is built.

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2026 season · 8 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home5g	287	2.2	9.9	0.2
Road3g	207	1.3	8.8	1.3

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-77g	249	1.7	9.3	0.6
Weeks 8+1g	311	3.0	10.4	1.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Kalen DeBoer

Pass share

45.8%

225 pass / 266 run

Plays / game

61.4

8 games

Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.

Alabama’s two quarterbacks

Keelon Russell	Threw in all 8 games · 148 of 221, 2,057 yds, 15 TD, 5 INT · 9.3 yards an attempt on 221 attempts · ran for 251 yds, 5 TD
Austin Mack	Threw in 2 of 8 games · 3 of 4, 23 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · 5.8 yards an attempt on 4 attempts · ran for 2 yds, 1 TD

Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.

Awards

Player standing · 2026

In the Heisman race (#7 in our model)

Our Heisman model ranks this player #7 right now. Heisman finalists are named in December.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

74 · #18 of 145 QBs

Former five-star. Now #18 at the position.

Heisman trajectory

Heisman futures · sportsbook market

#9 in market ▲ from No. 30 in February · 5 books

+24001.9% implied▲ tightened from +4000

Our Heisman model · 2026 · week 10

#7

Weeks outside our model's top 25 sit on the baseline.

Peak #3 · week 4

Avg #16.9

Finalist chance 25%

Peaked at #3 in week 4; #7 as of week 10.

Our model's rank, not the betting market's.

Keelon Russell

Style of play

This week

What’s being said

Worth knowing

His most important play this season

In the news this week

What they’re talking about

In the news this season

What they’re talking about

Week by week

In the news across his career

What fans said

Latest stories

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

The latest game

The season, game by game

Highs and lows

Where he ranks

Pass targets

Passing profile

Situational

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Alabama’s two quarterbacks

Awards

In the Heisman race (#7 in our model)

Heisman trajectory

#7

Two seasons at Alabama

2025