Coming down the home stretch of Alabama football’s off-season, the conversation about the quarterback race has centered on the prospects of Cooper Bateman, Jalen Hurts or Blake Barnett taking the reins under center.

While most fans and commentators in the sports media evaluate a quarterback’s physical ability, one sports psychologist is taking a different approach to evaluating Alabama’s quarterback race.

The MindSide founder, noted sports psychologist and “The Morning Blitz” contributor Dr. Bhrett McCabe examined the quarterback race from the mental side of the game.

Raw athletic ability can put football players, including quarterbacks, in position to start, but McCabe points out how the over-reliance on athletic ability can hinder the evaluation of quarterbacks by football coaches.

“I think that’s what often times gets coaches caught up is looking to see who has the best talent and the best potential and then hoping that over the course of the season that player is going to play at a certain level.” Dr. McCabe said.

The MindSide founder further highlights the importance that intangibles can play in separating a starting quarterback from his competitors.

“So if you got a quarterback battle from a coaching standpoint, look at the intangibles of who’s going to make your team better, not who under the right circumstances will make your team better.” Dr. McCabe said.

In his conversation with host Martin Houston, Dr. McCabe discussed prior conversations with professional athletes about playing at your best and how managing averaging performance can separate elite athletes from the pack.

“The question to me isn’t about how good you can play on your best day, it’s how good can you play on your average day?” Dr. McCabe said.

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