Sport Of The Future: Alabama Quarterback Tyler Buchner Hits The Transfer Portal, Is Leaving The Crimson Tide To Go Play College Lacrosse
Julio Aguilar. Getty Images.Tyler Buchner followed Tommy Rees from Notre Dame to Tuscaloosa this season. And there was a moment there where it looked like he made a great decision. Alabama had just lost to Texas, and Nick Saban decided to give Tyler Buchner the ball to start the next game against USF. I'm not sure if you've been following or not, but being a starting quarterback at Alabama has pretty much been a cheat code to get to the NFL lately. The last 4 starting quarterbacks were all starters in the NFL this year with Bryce Young, Mac Jones, Tua, and Jalen Hurts.
Unfortunately for Tyler Buchner…well…he just played really bad. He got benched for Ty Simpson after going 5-for-14 and throwing for just 34 yards. And then Jalen Milroe had his starting job back the next week. So yeah, it probably wasn't going to work out for Tyler Buchner at Alabama. At least not as far as football is concerned.
But before he started his career at Notre Dame, he was actually committed to another playoff school. Just for a different sport. Tyler Buchner originally committed to Michigan to play lacrosse as an 8th grader.
Now here's the thing--a lot of kids are great at lacrosse at 8th grade, and then everybody catches up to them and they turn out to be just average. And the competition he was playing against in California doesn't look to promising. But he's an SEC caliber athlete who can shoot the absolute piss out of the ball. He was shooting 100mph before he got to high school. So at the very least, there might be a team out there who would just like to have that sort of fire power on hand if they ever need it.
Do I think Tyler Buchner will be a good DI lacrosse player? I'd go ahead and put my bet on "not likely". There have been plenty of football guys who have transferred over to play lacrosse with their final season of eligibility lately. Ricky Miezan was a linebacker at Stanford, transferred to Virginia to play lacrosse, was a huge part of their team as a d-middie, and now just got picked up to play in the PLL. Dante Trade was a defensive back for the Maryland football team, and then played a season with the Maryland lacrosse team as a d-middie and played a big role for them. But those guys both ended up as defensive middies in lacrosse. I don't see Tyler Buchner being a d-middie. Maybe, but I just don't see a quarterback going to the defensive side of the ball. And just because you can shoot the piss out of the ball doesn't automatically make you a great lacrosse player.
So we'll see. Maybe he'll be able to meet up with the Michigan coach when Alabama plays the Big Blue in the Rose Bowl and see if that verbal commitment from 8th grade is still good. There's gotta be a team out there who is willing to take a chance. I just love that college lacrosse is at a spot now where we're stealing quarterbacks away from National Championship contending football programs. Sport of the future, baby. Get used to it.
And by the way--Roll mother effing Tide.