Why betting odds on Alabama's quarterback job are an insult to Jalen Milroe | Goodbread

Jalen Milroe doesn’t need more motivation.

He's the guy who's waited for his shot longer than anyone else in Alabama football's quarterback room. He's the guy the Crimson Tide turned to last year to backup in two Southeastern Conference games. It's either going to be his show, or another candidate will pass him by. There isn't a third possibility.

All that makes for plenty of belly fire for the redshirt sophomore, but now, there's more for the taking if he wants it: virtual Vegas is taking bets on who will start Alabama's season opener against Middle Tennessee State.

And the odds are an insult to Milroe.

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Here's how online sportsbook betonline.ag handicaps the race:

Ty Simpson +105

Tyler Buchner +140

Jalen Milroe +300

For those who can't read betting odds, a quick explainer: Simpson is the favorite, and at +105, a winning wager of $1 on Simpson would net $1.05 in profit, roughly an even-money proposition. Tyler Buchner, who transferred from Notre Dame and has yet to take a practice snap in Tuscaloosa, is a mild underdog. A winning $1 bet on Buchner would net $1.40 in profit. Then there's Milroe, a 3-1 longshot at +300; the sportsbook will triple your money if he gets the starting nod against the Blue Raiders.

Alabama's quarterback battle isn't the only one the sportsbook has handicapped; there are also odds on the QB races at Georgia, Auburn, Ohio State, Michigan State and UCLA.

Exactly how oddsmakers arrived at Milroe as Alabama's longshot is difficult to fathom.

This is the guy who came off the bench, on the road, to sink a dagger into an Arkansas comeback effort with a 77-yard run in Fayetteville last year. The same guy who, a week later, threw three touchdown passes to lead a win against Texas A&M, albeit with ball security issues in doing so, to keep the Crimson Tide undefeated at the time. Those games combined only made for about seven quarters of meaningful playing time, but that's seven more than the betting favorite, Simpson, who got a few snaps in blowouts. As well, Milroe is the best athlete on the 2023 roster, an opinion I've written previously, and one supported by none other than former UA star linebacker Will Anderson Jr., who answered Milroe when I posed that question to him in Kansas City prior to the NFL draft.

So where do these odds come from?

A few things to keep in mind: betonline.ag doesn't know or care what Nick Saban, new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, or anyone else close to this QB battle thinks about how it's shaping up. It doesn't care who wins the job, either. It only cares what the betting public thinks; feeling the pulse of the betting public is how the house guarantees its profit. The sportsbook wants enough money bet on each candidate to ensure that the two losing propositions generate more house money than what will be needed to pay off bets on the winner, no matter who it is. Its only goal is to set the odds in a way that will trigger that outcome.

For whatever reason, betonline.ag thinks gamblers won't get behind Milroe without a high-odds payoff. And for a guy who was ahead of everyone not named Bryce Young on the depth chart a year ago, that's a slap in the face.

At least, it is if Milroe wants it to be.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23 and the Talkin' Tide podcast. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Goodbread: Betting odds on Alabama QB job are insult to Jalen Milroe