Check out reasons Ohio and Alabama would split 2026 quarter back

Matt Ponatoski, the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2026, got the big question out of the way before Ryan Grubb made an offer.
Ponatoski is a famous baseball recruit who committed to Missouri when he was in eighth grade. According to Baseball America, he is the No. 16 high school baseball prospect in the country, and he plans to play both football and baseball for as long as he can.

Ponatoski said that if the four-star quarterback who hasn’t decided yet chose Alabama, Grubb said that plan would come true. Grubb told Ponatoski, “You can come here and play both at Alabama.” Ponatoski got an offer from the Crimson Tide after Alabama quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan saw him throw in person. Alabama wants to add a quarterback for 2026 to their team.

This person could be one of the three scholarship players that Alabama already has on its 2025 team: Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, or Keelon Russell. Ponatoski is one of two new quarterback offers for 2026.

The other is Nebraska four-star and Iowa State recruit Jett Thomalla. Even though the room is full, Ponatoski, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound sprinter ranked No. 22 in the 2026 class by 247Sports, knows that playing time at a school like Alabama is important, no matter how short it is. As Ponatoski put it, “you only need one year at Alabama.” “And if you play well, you get to play in the NFL.”Bert Bathiany, the football coach at Moeller, sees Ponatoski going in that direction. He calls Ponatoski “a once-in-a-lifetime player” and says that the Crusaders have “every single passing record known to man,” including the most career yards and touchdowns thrown and still one season to play.