A big debate surrounding the Arizona Cardinals (and their fans) heading into the 2026 NFL Draft is whether they should actually pull the trigger on Alabama’s Ty Simpson in the first round.
Ask The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, though, and he isn’t sold on a Day 1 projection for the quarterback prospect.
“There’s no substitute for experience,” he told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Thursday. “He graduated from Alabama before he threw his first touchdown pass. That’s tough. You can start to make compromises when maybe he has the physical traits of an Anthony Richardson when you have that size, that speed, that arm. Ty Simpson doesn’t have that.
“He does do a lot of NFL things. I think the way he navigates the pocket. You watch the first six games of the year, you think, ‘This is an NFL starter. This is someone we want on our team.’ Then you look at the back half of the year, you just can’t ignore that part of it. When the run game wasn’t going, the offensive line wasn’t holding up, a lot more was put on the quarterback to get things done. It was a lot of mixed results from Ty Simpson. In my opinion, I think he’s a second-round player. I think there’s a chance we go into Friday night of draft weekend with Ty Simpson still on the board.”
Could LSU's Garrett Nussmeier be a late-round QB option for the Cardinals this NFL Draft?@dpbrugler joined @Bickley_Marotta and dove into some of the signal-caller possibilities later on in the draft.
Full interview: t.co/Phktr6ikpT pic.twitter.com/yZHZTlwyar
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Experience, or lack thereof, continues to be a main talking point when it comes to Simpson and his 15 career starts at Alabama. The track record of first-round quarterbacks with fewer than 20 starts since 2006 has a lot to do with that.
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Compiled by ESPN’s Jeff Legwold, the nine first-round quarterbacks with fewer than 20 starts taken since 2006 have combined for just seven Pro Bowl nods and one All-Pro. Former Cardinals franchise quarterback Kyler Murray represents two of those Pro Bowls.
As far as a second contract with the team that drafted them, only three (Murray, Ryan Tannehill and Cam Newton) put pen to paper.
Just that alone will give scouts and general managers pause before even looking into the rough back end to last season. There’s also the price tag of getting Simpson. No matter if it’s a first- or second-round pick, it’s premium draft capital that could be used to address offensive line or pass rusher.
If not Ty Simpson, who could be in the mix at QB for Cardinals this NFL Draft?
While a lot of the talk has centered on Simpson, he’s not the only quarterback the Cardinals could or should consider this draft.
Why not look later on in the draft at LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, who Brugler believes “would make sense” for Arizona?
“He’s the type of quarterback that’ll throw into games and throw you out of games. That’s why we’re talking about him as a third- or fourth-round pick and not a first-round pick like we thought he potentially could have been over the summer,” Brugler said. “He’s another guy that grew up around the game, dad is a longtime college and NFL coach.
“There’s a lot to like about his command, the way he operates and his ability to distribute the football all over the field. If you’re looking for someone realistically who can start games for you, I think Garrett Nussmeier would be in that mix.”
Nussmeier is coming off his fifth and final season at LSU, where he completed 67.4% of his throws for 1,927 yards and 12 touchdowns to five interceptions.
ESPN’s Jordan Reid has Nussmeier as his third-ranked QB prospect this draft ahead of Miami’s Carson Beck.
Brugler doesn’t stop short with Nussmeier, either, offering up two developmental options even later in the draft.
“If you’re looking for more of a developmental option — high-risk, high-reward — Drew Allar would make sense from Penn State,” Brugler said. “It was such a bummer for him that he missed the second half of his senior year with the ankle injury. He didn’t really get a chance to show what he could do down the stretch.
“Cole Payton from North Dakota State is another one of those developmental guys that has a long way to go but is a really good athlete and what he put on film this year at the FCS level definitely has your attention. We’re talking early Day 3, Day 4 types. Chances are they’re not going to turn into NFL starters but if you want to throw a dart, those guys make sense.”
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