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Sep 14, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones (10) during warmups against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Is Alabama QBU? 2025 Week 3 Crimson Tide Tracker: Bama in the NFL

Originally posted on Alabama Crimson Tide on SI | Last updated Sep 18, 2025 6:20 PM ET

If you follow the Bama in the NFL tracker and Ultimate Bama in the NFL Database, we said that the Week 2 tracker would be updated when the league released its annual roster breakdown, which is considered the benchmark time for doing as rosters are fluid the rest of the year. And then we saw the breakdown and realized that more than an update was required.

We'll start with the position breakdown. According to to the NFL there were four former Crimson Tide quarterbacks in the league at the start of the 2025 season, tied for Oregon for the most. However, the league counts Jalen Hurts as being from Oklahoma because that's where he last played when drafted.

Here on Alabama Crimson Tide On SI/BamaCentral we count Hurts as also being from Alabama because he got his undergraduate degree at Alabama, he won a national championship with the Crimson Tide, and, perhaps most importantly, Hurts himself counts himself as being both from Alabama and Oklahoma.

But even without Hurts is tied for having the most NFL quarterbacks of any school, meaning in can effectively claim QBU status as Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins) and Bryce Young (Carolina Panthers) are starters and Mac Jones is looking like one again with the San Francisco 49ers. With Hurts, last season's Super Bowl MVP, there's no doubt. For the record the four from Oregon are Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers), Bo Nix (Denver Broncos), Marcus Mariota (Washington Commanders), and Dillon Gabriel (Cleveland Browns).

But the Crimson Tide can claim something similar at numerous other positions as well.

The position breakdown for the Alabama players can always be found in Active Crimson Tide Players by Team, Position, which is updated on a regular basis, but Alabama very close to the leaders at other spots including wide receiver (seven).

Note that the list only includes players on NFL active 53-man rosters for Week 1 and does not include players on the injury list or practice squads.

As for the overall leaders, Alabama had the most or tied for the most players (60) on active NFL rosters for the ninth straight year: 2018 (44), 2019 (56), 2020 (53), 2021 (54), 2022 (58), 2023 (57), 2024 (61), and shared the league lead in 2017 (39).

A total of 233 colleges were represented on NFL Kickoff Weekend active rosters.

Here's the official top 25:

Going back to the quarterbacks, among the 32 Week 1 starters there were 26 first-round draft picks, with two selected in the second round including Hurts, and four from the third-round or later. Nine were No.1-overall selections, nearly a third of the league.

NFL Week 3 Tracker

For the full set of statistics on how the former Crimson Tide players did this week, check out our elaborate Bama in the NFL Week 3 Tracker. It will be updated throughout the weekend until every game is concluded.

Game of the Week

Detroit Lions at Baltimore Ravens. We love the whole idea of Derrick Henry and Brian Branch colliding, but the team that establishes the run better could have a huge advantage on Monday. Last season, Detroit (409.5 yards per game) and Baltimore (424.9) had the top-two offenses in yards per game while the Lions ranked first (33.2 points per game) and the Ravens ranked third (30.5) in scoring average. The best way to avoid a shootout could simply be to play keep away.

NFL Week 3 Crimson Tide Notes

• Dating back to last season, Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs has recorded a rushing touchdown in 11 consecutive games, including the playoffs. He's one shy of becoming the fifth player in league history (sixth time) to have a rushing TD in 12 straight games, joining John Riggins (15 1983), Emmitt Smith (14 in 1995 and 13 from 1994-95), George Rogers (13 in 1985-86), and LaDainian Tomlinson (12 in 2004).

• Along those same lines, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery of the Detroit Lions have each rushed for a touchdown in 10 games as teammates, and are tied with Paul Hornung andJim Taylor (10 games with Green Bay) and Hugh McElhenny andJoe Perry (10 games with San Francisco) for the most by running back teammates in NFL history. They're also the fourth backfield pair during the Super Bowl era to each score a touchdown in the same game 12 times, joining Daryl Johnston and Emmitt Smith (14 games Cowboys), Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn (12, Buccaneers) and Ernie Green and Leroy Kelly (12, Browns).

• As rough as things have been in Miami, Tagovailoa was terrific statistically against New England last week. He completed 26 of 32 attempts (81.3 percent) for 315 yards with two touchdowns and a pickoff for a 115.5 rating. It was his fourth career game with a completion percentage above 80 and 300-plus passing yards, which is tied for third most among active quarterbacks. His completion percentage has been above 70 percent in four of his last five road games, but Buffalo this week will be a tough challenge even without the cold.

• The Panthers may be 0-2, by Young continues to make strides. Last week at Arizona he set career highs in completions (35) and pass yards (328), and his third career game with at least three touchdown passes. He's had a touchdown pass in 12 straight games, which is the longest streak among active NFC quarterbacks, and hasn't had a pass intercepted in four of last five home starts.

• Speaking of improvement, Minnesota Vikings linebacker Dallas Turner had career-high five tackles and his first sack of the season last week. Andrew Van Ginkel, who starts in the base formation, suffered a concussion in the lackluster loss to Atlanta and has been limited in practice. Center Ryan Kelly also suffered a concussion in the same game and might be out for a bit.

• Keep your eye on Arizona (2-0) at San Francisco (2-0) as the winner will be 3-0. Since 1970, the Cardinals have begun 3-0 on five previous occasions (1974, 2012, 2014-15 and 2021). San Francisco has begun a season with three straight wins five times since 1990 (1990, 1995, 1998, 2019 and 2023). Last week Jones passed for 279 yards and three touchdowns without an interception for a 113.1 rating at New Orleans during his 49ers debut.

This article first appeared on Alabama Crimson Tide on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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