2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Ty Simpson

As far as the 2026 NFL Draft goes, few prospects intrigue me the way Alabama QB Ty Simpson does. Only 15 career starts and just 523 career pass attempts, but he's opted to forego a redshirt senior year and join the NFL ranks at just over 23 years old. A fascinating case study with the lack of experience compared to what you'd hope for out of a quarterback prospect, but a seemingly open lane to get drafted higher in what appears to be a light quarterback class.

Just a one-year starter for the Crimson Tide, Simpson had a pretty solid year up until around mid-November, where things started to derail from a production standpoint, losing three of his final six starts, including a blowout loss to Indiana in the Rose Bowl, where he only threw for 67 yards on just 16 pass attempts. While he was dealing with a calvacade of injuries in the back half of the year, 2025 didn't end the way he, or Alabama for that matter, would've hoped.

Outside of Cam Newton, who's an outlier given his year starting in community college before going to Auburn, the lineage of one-year starting QBs to get drafted round one isn't exactly a prolific group. Kyler Murray would probably be considered the best outcome from that group, with other notables including Mark Sanchez, Mitch Trubisky, and Anthony Richardson. Regardless of whether or not Simpson is the latest man to join that lineage, what does he bring to the table?

Player Bio

Name: Ty Simpson

Jersey: No. 15

Position: Quarterback

School: Alabama

Class: Redshirt Junior 

Height: 6'2" 

Weight: 205 lbs 

Games Watched: vs. Florida State, Georgia, Vanderbilt, and LSU (2025)

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Player Breakdown

Arm Talent (13.5/15)

Not his best trait, but I'd be hard pressed to say Simpson's arm talent is anything south of "pretty good." He can throw north of 50 yards (accuracy may vary), and his ability to drive the ball with zip got better by the time the LSU game came around. The deep ball placement has to be better, but there are enough cases where it hits that give you hope he'll figure it out sooner or later.

Accuracy (10.5/15)

The two big gripes I would have with Simpson's accuracy were, firstly, that he wasn't particularly good throwing under pressure, or even when he anticipated it, and his numbers back that up completely. Secondly, while Simpson's deep ball has some serious play, he did have a number of balls, regardless of his protection, get underthrown or, in the case of one vs. LSU, even overthrown, intended for Germie Bernard, who would've had a walk-in TD in this instance. I have a hard time seeing that have play in the NFL, especially if he's playing in front of a subpar offensive line.

Decision Making (12.25/15)

This was another area where Simpson wasn't great under pressure, but I wouldn't call it as bad as the accuracy woes. Across the five games, Simpson threw a pretty egregious pick off of play action against Vanderbilt, and then fumbled on a coverage sack against LSU, as far as direct turnovers go. Additionally, Simpson needed to be better at recognizing when he had opportunities to go deep, and when he did, to do so more quickly. I counted at least three chunk play opportunities wasted because he was either a half-second or a full second off from pulling the trigger quickly enough. I'd also want Simpson to be just a tad better at times, simply just taking his checkdown or outlet options if he doesn't have the opportunity to run.

Progressions (7.5/10)

Given that three of these games consisted of Simpson's first five ever starts, a lot of what he was doing ended up being a lot of one or two quick progression reads. The LSU game, which was start No. 9 of the year, was definitely a step in the right direction, but this is ultimately a case where a lack of experience hurts Simpson in terms of where you'd want him to be going into the draft.

Pocket Awareness (8.75/10)

One of Simpson's best traits is his knack for stepping up in the pocket, keeping his eyes downfield, and making some really good throws in the intermediate part of the field. I had hoped to have seen more of that in this film, but just going through Twitter, it would appear he's done this with great effect throughout the year in other games. Take this one throw vs. LSU below, for example.

Anticipation/Touch (7.75/10)

It wouldn't be hard to link this to the lack of reps Simpson had to some other QBs in recent years, but I thought you saw Simpson definitely get better when it comes to anticipating open throwing lanes/coverages with throws, and having enough touch on the ball in certain instances, throwing over defenders. Still a ways to go, there were a few instances where I would've liked to have seen him lead his receivers horizontally a bit more, for example, but he should get there with more high-level reps.

Out of Structure (8.75/10)

I came away fairly impressed with Simpson's ability, both as a runner and passer, making plays when things broke down. He was pretty good about keeping his eyes downfield, which led to some sacks, but for the most part, he took good care of the ball and made some nice plays downfield (see below vs. Vanderbilt). We'll touch on his running ability momentarily, but that's definitely a plus category for him as well.

Mobility (8.75/10)

I would compare the level of mobility Simpson has to that of Giants' starter Jaxson Dart. He's about 20 lbs lighter, but Simpson showed off the ability to extend plays as a passer, as just discussed, but also as a runner, wheter designed or improvised, can and should translate well.

Mechanics (3.5/5)

With Simpson, there are cases where his mechanics do break down under pressure, and while there are a couple of cases (vs. Auburn and then vs. Georgia) where it resulted in some crazy touchdown plays, fading into throws isn't what you'd call a successful business model as a quarterback. While there's an example of his mechanics holding up when pressure is coming (stepping up in the pocket and driving into throws), that's something that has to get out of his system. He's not Caleb Williams, and that's perfectly fine. His footwork could be a tad better, but I'm more confident it will get corrected.

Player Summary

While I can understand why Simpson and his camp decided that this was the time for him to come out, given the lack of high end QB names in the draft beyond Fernando Mendoza, and can certainly see the potential with him even with the lack of starts, my gut tells me after watching him is that another year in college would've been his best choice.

Can Ty Simpson be a good NFL quarterback? I'd say yes. The problem is that there's no guarantee he lands in a spot such as the Rams, for instance, where he could take the Jordan Love-ish route and develop in the background for an extra year or two. If that happens, and hypothetically a team in the vein with an older veteran QB uses a first-rounder to get him, I can be sold on that.

Realistically, though, I imagine a QB-needy team lands Simpson (Pittsburgh, New York Jets, etc.), and I do worry about how patient the coaches around him are, given the nature of the beast these days. He simply needs more time, and that's not something every coach or front office executive in the NFL has for better or worse. Best-case scenario, as a year-one starter or close enough to it, Simpson has a year similar to Jaxson Dart, and his mobility and ability to create when things break down would be part of that.

Rookie Projections: Redshirt Rookie/Below Average Starter

Third-Year Projection: Mid-Tier Starter

Final Grade (81.25/100): Late-Second Round Talent

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