The dream is real, oh so real, for every top-flight college football player.
Roger Goodell strides to the podium with a notecard in his hand, not even clearing his throat before enunciating your name clearly into the microphone for the entire football-mad world to hear.
Fans of your new team go berserk with joy as you emerge from the backstage green room to accept the officially licensed hat of your new team and head straight to Goodell for the bro-huggiest of all possible bro hugs as a newly minted member of the first-round draft pick fraternity.
That’s the dream, and it is oh so real for every player, every year, in every NFL Draft.
But here is the question at hand: Will former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson join that fraternity when the 91st meeting of the National Football League franchises commences in Pittsburgh on April 23?
Simpson surprised some both inside the Tuscaloosa city limits and outside the SEC earlier this week by declaring himself as an early entrant to the NFL Draft – becoming the first Alabama starting quarterback since John Parker Wilson to not win an SEC championship.
Simpson’s one-and-done 2025 was star-crossed to say the least. Named the Tide’s starter after sitting behind Bryce Young in 2022 and Jalen Milroe in both 2023 and 2024, Simpson passed for 3,567 yards and 28 touchdowns against just 5 interceptions to lead Alabama to the College Football Playoff.
Simpson’s stats were plenty gaudy, albeit decidedly front-loaded – as his hot start mirrored the Tide’s torrid 4-game stretch of victories against ranked SEC teams. But once the calendar neared Thanksgiving, Simpson seemed to struggle more and more every week in near-lockstep with the offense’s inability to run the football. In Alabama’s final 4 games, Simpson completed 57% of his attempts for an average of 158.3 yards with 6 touchdowns and 1 interception.
There were rumors that Simpson was battling through a back injury, gastritis and elbow bursitis, but he persisted in not making mention of any ailment public while his production waned. After all, the Crimson Tide downed arch-rival Auburn despite his pedestrian 122-yard effort and still made the Playoff despite a 48.7% passing effort in Georgia’s rout of the Tide in the SEC title game.
And Simpson saved his worst performance for last, though Alabama’s 38-3 drubbing against Indiana wasn’t purely on him. Nevertheless, Simpson passed for only 67 yards against the Hoosiers before a cracked rib from a hit during a scramble ended his Rose Bowl early in the third quarter.
As part of Simpson’s declaration to depart for the NFL, his father – UT-Martin coach Jason Simpson – said the Tide signal caller received first-round grades from every NFL general manager they contacted prior to the decision.
“Nobody said second round,” Jason Simpson told ESPN.
That begs the following question: Is Ty Simpson the player that carved up Wisconsin for 382 yards and 4 touchdowns on Sept. 13, or is Ty Simpson the player that threw 2 picks against Eastern Illinois and time and time again ate untimely sacks instead of being more prudent with the football?
The track record for 1-year starters in the NFL isn’t all that great, either. Since 2011, 5 QBs were taken in the first round of the draft after just a single season of starting work. Those players:
Cam Newton, Auburn, 2011 (No. 1 overall) Mitchell Trubisky, North Carolina, 2017 (No. 2 overall) Kyler Murray, Oklahoma, 2019 (No. 1 overall) Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State, 2019 (No. 15 overall) Anthony Richardson, Florida, 2023 (No. 4 overall)If you’re keeping score, that is 1 NFL Most Valuable Player (Newton), 1 formerly reliable starter (Murray) and 3 clear busts. In other words, experience matters. Playing time matters. And if anything, Simpson regressed as he gained experience and playing time in his one-and-done season – to the point that the more vocal Tide fans wondered aloud of the offense would have been better off with either Austin Mack or Keelon Russell under center.
On the other hand, the quarterback class this cycle isn’t exactly brimming with talent. Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is the overwhelming choice to go No. 1 overall to the Raiders, but after that it is entirely possible that Simpson is the second-best choice – especially if Oregon’s Dante Moore ends up staying in Eugene another year.
So which Ty Simpson is the real Ty Simpson – the gritty gamer with pinpoint accuracy and superior game management, or the jittery and indecisive signal caller who seemingly wilts as the lights get brighter?
Your mileage may vary with the answer, of course, just as the 32 NFL teams will pore over every frame of video looking for clues to the future. Is Simpson a Cam Newton destined for greatness or a Mitchell Trubisky destined for a clipboard?
The dream is real, but reality is a whole different beast. Simpson’s pro future beckons – whether his name is called by Goodell in the first round or by an anonymous NFL staffer in the third.
Is Alabama’s Ty Simpson an imminent first-rounder? Your mileage may vary Saturday Down South.
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