Who is Ty Simpson? Scouting Alabama football QB for NFL draft

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As soon as Ty Simpson stepped off the field at the Rose Bowl, the Alabama football quarterback faced the big picture.

Simpson stood at his locker in a daze, facing questions about a rib injury, about Austin Mack and how the Alabama redshirt sophomore took over the offense in the second half of the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against Indiana when Simpson could no longer. He talked about the offense’s struggles through a 38-3 shellacking at the hand of the eventual national champion and about Simpson’s future with the Crimson Tide.

But minutes after the 2025 season ended, and days before he officially ended the collegiate chapter of his football journey, Simpson was asked what he will remember most about this Alabama team, a question he admitted was “hard” as he contemplated the end of an up-and-down campaign.

Then came the message Simpson had been pushing all season when it came to Alabama: resiliency, uniting after the Crimson Tide’s first loss to Florida State around an idea that “nobody expected us to be here,” whether it was the CFP or the Rose Bowl, even if it was a game that didn’t end how Alabama wanted it to.

“Never been on a team that’s been as close as we were,” Simpson told a small group of reporters.

That is what mattered to Simpson then. Not the NFL. Not how his Alabama career would be remembered, while that would soon play a significant role in his decision to pursue the league instead of another season of college football elsewhere.

Resiliency is something to which Simpson relates. It’s a significant part of his story, one an NFL team could inherit as soon as the first round of the 2026 draft Thursday, April 23, in Pittsburgh.

But resiliency is not the only part of Simpson’s story. It’s not the only attribute the former Alabama quarterback will bring to the league.

What could be good about Ty Simpson?

The accuracy

The completion percentage doesn’t look too impressive.

Simpson completed 64.5% of his SEC-leading 473 pass attempts in 2025, seventh-best among conference quarterbacks. But when you look deeper, you see a quarterback who is much more accurate than the number indicates.

According to Pro Football Focus’ adjusted completion percentage, one that looks at accuracy based on all factors outside a quarterback’s control like dropped passes, passes thrown away and attempts when being hit, Simpson has a 75.3% completion rate, one that is percentage points lower than Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who led the SEC in completion percentage.

When Simpson was at his best, he anticipated routes, hitting receivers in stride particularly on short- to mid-range routes to set up yards after catch.

Struggles came on deep balls, finishing with a 41.9% completion rate and three interceptions on attempts longer than 20 yards. Simpson was apt to the occasional underthrow or overthrow, not accounting for the 32 sacks the Crimson Tide allowed, or the 164 pressures he saw, per PFF.

But when Simpson is on, when Simpson is firing, he’s moving his offense downfield consistently and with efficiency.

The ownership

As the play clock ticks down, Simpson looks like an NFL quarterback, one who is behind each of his offensive lineman, changing protections, sharing what he sees.

“We give him full rein to get to what he needs to get to,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said of Simpson during the 2025 season. “He has a high football IQ. We don’t ever want him taking a snap that he’s not comfortable with, someone not being on the same page with him.”

With it comes an undoubted assurance of who the leader of the Alabama offense is, one shown both on the field through checks and audibles, but off the field too.

Before he was officially named Alabama’s starting quarterback and a team captain, Simpson was a part of the team’s leadership council heading into the 2025 season, one who consistently holds his teammates accountable.

Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb saw it from Simpson early, calling the Crimson Tide signal caller “a pretty fiery guy,” and competitor like Geno Smith, who Grubb coached with the Seattle Seahawks.

“I told Ty, that’s what you’ve got to be,” Grubb said before the season started. “A guy who can have composure and realize there’s different times and release points. If you score a touchdown and want to go crazy, go crazy. But up until then, you’ve got to just be a smooth operator.”

What could be bad about Ty Simpson?

The pressure

In a clean pocket, Simpson is as good as any quarterback in the country.

Per PFF, Simpson nears a 70% completion rate in a clean pocket, one that jumps nearly nine percentage points on the site’s adjusted completion percentage. He has 24 of his 28 passing touchdowns in a clean pocket.

When under pressure, though, Simpson’s production falters. His completion percentage doesn’t reach 50%. He averages less than 6 yards per pass attempt.

When things are right, Simpson was cool, calm and collected. When faced with adversity, Simpson crumbled.

The lack of experience

Simpson’s level of experience as a starting quarterback pales in comparison to many quarterbacks in the 2026 NFL draft class.

Of the top 10 quarterbacks ESPN lists as top prospects, Simpson has the second-least snaps with 1,106 across four seasons, per PFF. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss is the only one with fewer.

Quarterbacks like Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Penn State’s Drew Allar, Miami’s Carson Beck, Clemson’s Cade Klubnik and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia each have more than 2,000 snaps of quarterback experience at the college level.

Even Mac Jones, the one-season Alabama starter to whom Simpson is consistently compared, had more snaps when he entered the draft than Simpson.

If selected in the first round, Simpson would have the fewest snaps of any first-round quarterback since Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, who played 973 snaps for Florida from 2020-22.

What separates Ty Simpson

When it comes to Simpson – the NFL quarterback, the one who has cemented his place in Denny Chimes as an Alabama captain, who has secured his Crimson Tide legacy long-term – there are questions.

But it’s not an unusual thing for Simpson.

He faced questions all season: questions of his ability, questions of how good Alabama actually was.

And that’s where Simpson thrives, just like the Crimson Tide team he led in 2025.

“Being able to prove everybody wrong, have a little adversity, is what we want,” Simpson said before the Rose Bowl. “Being backed in the corner, most people kind of sit down and don’t fight. These guys, this team, are fighters. We’re going to do everything we can to fight and claw and get out.”

Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Scouting Alabama football QB Ty Simpson for NFL draft

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