ESPN analyst Josh Pate believes Alabama has the ceiling of the best team in college football, crediting quarterback Keelon Russell and a roster he said may be better at every position than last season’s playoff team.
On The Rich Eisen Show, Pate hedged his bet in ranking the Crimson Tide No. 1 ahead of Saturday’s game against Georgia. “It may be the best team I’ve seen so far,” Pate said. “I’d comfortably say one of the four best teams that I’ve seen so far.”
Josh Pate on Keelon Russell
Pate said Alabama “has best-team-in-the-country potential” at its high end, and his case starts with Russell, who beat out Austin Mack for the starting job in August.
“Keelon Russell is really, really dynamic, really incredible,” Pate said. “If you turned him on and you were to tell someone, ‘Look at this third-year starter at quarterback Alabama has,’ you would say, ‘Yeah, that makes sense, man. This guy looks really seasoned.’
“And then I tell you, by the way, he’s started five games in his entire career. You would say, ‘You’re lying to me,’ because you would think that that’s a lie. He’s amazing.”
Through five games, the Duncanville, Texas, native has completed 93 of 130 passes for 1,412 yards with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions. That includes a 285-yard, three-touchdown day in last Saturday’s 56-23 win at Mississippi State.
How is Alabama better than last year?
Alabama reached the SEC championship game in 2025 and won 34-24 at Oklahoma in the playoff’s first round. Left tackle Kadyn Proctor and quarterback Ty Simpson then went No. 12 and No. 13 in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Pate sees upgrades at both spots and across the roster.
“They are definitively better at quarterback,” Pate said. “They had a first-round left tackle taken off the board and lost four of their five offensive linemen. They are definitively better along the offensive line. Their tight end room is night and day different. Their defensive front is night and day different. They’ve got an incredible secondary.”
Alabama’s offense leads the country with a 54% success rate, and the Tuscaloosa program ranks No. 2 nationally in opponent-adjusted expected points added per play. ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum said after the Mississippi State win that Alabama “looks like the most complete and best team that I have seen this season.”
Georgia at Alabama playoff stakes
No. 2 Georgia visits No. 6 Alabama on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, with both teams at 5-0. Georgia won last December’s SEC title game 28-7 after Alabama took the regular-season meeting 24-21 in Athens.
“They’ve got a stretch coming up here that’s going to define their season,” Pate said. “So there’s no guarantee they even make the playoffs. I do feel the winner of this weekend’s Alabama-Georgia game is a borderline, lowercase-L lock to make the playoff.”
After Georgia, Alabama visits No. 15 Tennessee on Oct. 17 and hosts Texas A&M on Oct. 24 before a bye and a Nov. 7 trip to No. 10 LSU.
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