The cloak and dagger talk surrounding Alabama quarterbacks aren’t necessarily over. It’s just hit pause for a year.

Tua’s the guy.

Yet with the transfer of Jalen Hurts, the guy behind the guy takes on new importance. No longer will a former SEC offensive player of the year be Option 2 if Tua Tagovailoa gets hurt like he did last season.

Nick Saban said he wants to get every quarterback “a good shot and good evaluation” after Friday’s opening workout of the spring practice schedule.

There are two early-enrollee freshmen with prominent backgrounds in Taulia Tagovailoa and Paul Tyson, the great grandson of Bear Bryant.

The only quarterback will collegiate experience, however, is Mac Jones.

“We feel like Mac has made a lot of progress since he’s been here,” Saban said. “He really played well, especially at the beginning of the year last year when he was getting a lot of reps in fall camp. Then he had to be the scout team quarterback half the time so maybe toward the end of the year didn’t really have the opportunity to progress like we’d like. But he’s going to get every opportunity to do that now, and I think he’s a bright guy”

Jones completed 5 of 13 passes as a redshirt freshman last season for 123 yards and one touchdown. The Jacksonville, Florida product also saw time as the holder in kicking situations after Tua Tagovailoa sprained his knee a few weeks into the season.

As the third option behind Hurts, Jones’ threw passes in five games last year. He also took a snap at the end of the first possession at LSU when Tagovailoa had to leave the game for a play and hurts was injured.

Jones also coached the undefeated championship season of Zeta Tau Alpha’s intramural flag football team last fall.

“I think he has the right attitude about what he needs to do to play winning football at the position,” Saban said. “I think he’s showing more maturity in his approach to how he goes about doing things and being a leader and affecting other people. So, we’re encouraged by everything that he’s done to this point but he’s going to have to go out there on the field and show he can do it on a consistent basis and run the team.”

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.