Why Ty Simpson believes he’s ready to be an NFL team’s franchise quarterback

In the offseason, there were three choices Ty Simpson could have made about his future, each with its own risks and rewards. He could have returned to Alabama for another season, entered the transfer portal and cashed in on the millions of dollars that a team like Miami was offering him, but he went with option number three, which was entering the 2026 NFL Draft.

While speaking to reporters at the NFL combine on Friday, Simpson shared a little bit of insight into how he arrived at this decision and why he believes he’s ready to be a franchise quarterback for the NFL team that selects him.

“I feel like I’m ready, you know, I’m a franchise quarterback,” Simpson said. “Like I said earlier, Alabama prepares you most for the NFL, and with the infrastructure they had from Coach Saban, Coach DeBoer, Coach Grubb, all the coordinators that I had before, I’ve run an NFL type system. It definitely prepared me for saying those long play calls, saying those checks, making sure that I get us in the right protection.” 

Whether he’s started or not, Simpson has been in multiple offensive systems at Alabama that were constructed by coaches with NFL experience. Ryan Grubb is the most recent example. Grubb spent a season with the Seattle Seahawks before coming to Tuscaloosa to be the offensive coordinator this past year.

Simpson has also played under Tommy Rees at Alabama, who’s currently the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator, and former Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was the offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide when Simpson first arrived in Tuscaloosa.

Yes, Simpson waited about three years for an opportunity to be the starting quarterback at Alabama, but during that time period, he either learned from or practiced against numerous future NFL stars that he credited for making him better.  

“Everybody talks about my starts, but I’ve played in other games besides that, and I’ve played against really good NFL players,” Simpson said. “Think about my freshman year, right? Learning from the No. 1 overall pick and Heisman Trophy winner [Bryce Young]. Going on defense, going on scout team, I’ve got Will Anderson Jr, Dallas Turner, Henry To’oTo’o. I got Kool-Aid [McKinstry] on one side. I’ve Terrion [Arnold] on the other side. There’s a number of first and second round draft picks who I went against and who I was in a locker room with. So, like I said, the Alabama locker room is as close of a locker room in the NFL as you can get.”

One of the questions that Simpson said he’s been asked in his meetings with NFL teams pertains to why he chose to play at Alabama, and to him, he believed Alabama was the best school to prepare him to be in the position he is in today. 

There are only a few more lines left in this chapter of Simpson’s story, and when his name is called at the 2026 NFL Draft, his first chapter post-Alabama will begin.