Alabama has one of college football's more distinct quarterback battles heading into 2018 with Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa.Hurtsis the 2016 SEC OffensivePlayer of the Year who compiled a 26-2 record and led Alabama toconsecutive national championship games. Tagovailoa is the quarterback who better pa sed the eye test in 2017 and ledthe Tide to a comeback win against Georgia in theCollege Football Playoff championship.MORE: You can see why Alabama coach Nick Saban has a tough choice to make ahead of the 2018 season.His decisioncouldultimately affect not only the future of Alabama's offense, but also the respective futures of Tagovailoa and Hurts. Here's a look at the factors he'll considerin Alabama's upcoming quarterback competition:Alabama QB competitionWho's out?No one yet, butTagovailoa is considered the favorite to win the starting role. That meanshe'd be tasked with replacing Hurts' 4, San Francisco 49Ers Pet Gear 861 career pa sing yards, 40 pa sing touchdowns, 1,809 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns. That's a lot of production, regardle s of how you look at it.Hurts also didan excellent job of protecting the ball in 2017, throwing only one interception in 254 attempts.Who's in?It's an open race until Saban says otherwise. Here's what Hurts and Tagovailoa bringto the table:Hurts: Hehas two years of starting experience. Counting Alabama's CFP title game against Georgia, he's 26-2 as a starter,3-1 in the Playoff, 12-2 against ranked opponents and 17-1 against SEC opponents, the Tide's only John Taylor Jersey lo ses against No. 2Clemson in 2016and No. 6 Auburn in 2017. His ability as a runner can't be understated either:He canbreak off big runs at any point in the game and does a good job of protecting the ball.Tagovailoa: Helooked phenomenal in limited play throughout 2017, completing 49 of 77 pa ses for 636 yards and 11 pa sing touchdowns to two interceptions. He looked calm in the pocket and displayed accuracy, arm strength and play-making ability,rushing 27 times for 133yards and two touchdowns. He displayed some freshman mistakes against the Bulldogs, but there's no reason to believe that will be a problem going forward.MORE: What makes this battle unique?Several factors. Alabama mayreplacea two-year starter with someone who hasn't started a game since high school. And unlike other competitions, we've seen both playin meaningful games. Also consider that Alabama's 2018 staff will seeits fourth iteration at offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in three yearswith offensive coordinatorMike Locksley, co-offensive coordinator Josh Gattis and quarterbacks coach Dan Enos. That will play a role in how theoffense is run.Three more questions1. What happens to the loser of the QB competition?If Tagovailoa loses out, he transfers; he's too talented to sit behind Hurts and hasalready shown he can elevate any team for which he plays. The NCAA's new transfer rules could allow him to leave without losing a year of eligibility, a suming he plays fewer than four games (unlikely). Either way, he'llhave his pick of schools in thisscenario.Hurts has already told Saban he's staying at Alabama throught he 2018 season, meaning his decision will likely come next offseason. If he wants to be a quarterback and transition to the NFL at that position, he maytransfer. But his size andathleticism give him the option of changingpositions if he wants to Dwight Clark Jersey stay at Alabama. That could be at receiver, running back orH-Back.2. How will Locksley affect playcalling?Locksley's offense is dictated bypersonnel, though he typicallymixespro andspread looks. Considering both quarterbacks' running ability, his formations will likely vary little: The real difference will be in playcalling.If Tagovailoa starts, Alabama will feature more pure pa sing plays. If Hurts retains the position, expect more designed runs andpop pa ses. Regardle s of who starts, the offense will still center aroundrunning backs Damien Harris, Najee Harris and Josh Jacobs.3. Howhas spring game affected battle?The competition took a serious detour this spring with Tagovailoa's broken hand. We never got to see the two truly compete against each another, and it's impo sible to compare their respective progre sion. That gives Saban and Co. a smaller sample size to work with in terms of on-field play, meaning this quarterback battle will almost certainly be decided in fall camp. All told, don't be surprised if Saban finds a way to utilize both quarterbacks in some capacity in 2018.MORE: Stats that matterHere's a look at Hurts and Tagovailoa'sproduction atquarterbackthe last two seasons:QuarterbackPa singTD-INTRushesRush TDsHurts (2016)240 Jerry Rice Jersey of 382, 2,780 yards23-9191 att. for 954 yards13Hurts (2017)154 of 254, 2,081 yards17-1154 att. for 854 yards8Tagovailoa49 of 77, 636 yards11-227 att. for 133 yards2Hurts may have seenfewer pa sing attempts, yards and touchdowns in 2017, but he increased his yards per attempt from 7.4 to 9.4, improved his quarterback rating from 139.1 to 150.7 and improved his touchdown-interception ratio (though his completion percentage dropped from 62.8to 60.6). And although he saw fewer rushing attempts in 2017, he increased his yard-per-carry average from 5.0 in 2016 to 5.6 in 2017. He ran on 37 percent of plays in which he was the featured player, as opposed to 33 percent in 2016.Comparatively,Tagovailoa's stats suggest a pa s-first, run-second play style.Even with his Charles Haley Jersey dual-threat ability, he only ran on16 percent of plays in which he was the featured player. He also eclipsed Hurts' completion percentage (63.6) and quarterback rating (175.0) while averaging 4.9 yards a carry.What does this mean? Only that Tagovailoa is more likelyto be a bigger pa sing threat than Hurts at quarterback. That will certainly be taken into consideration when Saban decides who the starter will be for 2018.Who wins?Signs point to Tagovailoa starting for Alabama when the Tide open against Louisville; he seems to offer an improvement in the pa sing game without much dropoff in his rushing ability.Of course, that projection comes without having seen play a single down in Alabama's spring game. Nothing he or Hurts hasdone will predict who takes over at quarterback, certainly not more than fall campIt all comes down to who runs the offense better, plain and simple. And it's likelySaban won't let us know who that is until they takethe field.