Alabama Graduate QB David Cornwell Transferring for Junior Season

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

Under head coach Nick Saban, Alabama will always have a roster full of five- and four-star recruits as talented as any other player in the nation. Depth at any given position normally is not an issue but the stockpile of gunslingers on the roster is dwindling in a hurry after the announced transfer of graduate David Cornwell on Wednesday.

Cornwell headed to Tuscaloosa as a four-star recruit in the 2014 class. After being an Elite 11 finalist and one of the top rated pro-style quarterbacks in the nation, the 6-5, 228 pound, talent has been sitting on the sidelines for three seasons getting snaps during the 2016 schedule against Kent State and Mississippi State in mop-up duty. During his time with Alabama, Cornwell did not attempted a pass in a game.

The writing is on the wall for the Crimson Tide with their quarterback of the future already being firmly entrenched. Hurts (6-2, 209) took over the helm for Alabama during his true freshman season passing for 2,563 yards with 12 touchdowns. Hurts was also second on the team in total rushing yards with 841 while posting 12 more touchdowns on the board helping lead the Tide to an undefeated regular season and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

Alabama’s roster is now down to three quarterbacks; Montana Murphy (freshman), Cooper Bateman (junior), and Hurts – for now. Rumors have Bateman leaving as well, but nothing official has been announced yet. Blake Barnett transferred after three games into the 2016 schedule committing to Arizona State out of Palomar (JUCO) on Monday. The 2017 recruiting class has two verbal commits, Tua Tagovailoa (Honolulu, HI) and Mac Jones (Jacksonville, FL).

Cornwell said his goodbyes to the Alabama fans on Twitter writing, “Appreciate every moment at Alabama! This is my statement on transferring:

Coming out of high school, the former Norman North (OK) star had offers from Miami, Tennessee, Arkansas, Notre Dame, Auburn, Kansas, Indiana, Missouri, Tulsa, Washington State, Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma State. Cornwell did not indicate where he may land, but wherever he may go he will have two years to play two.

Photo credit: Montgomery Advertiser; No. 12 David Cornwell.