Players who did not find much success at the NFL Combine get another shot at the Pro Day. But for Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, his Combine performance was a hit, and he was even spotted throwing at the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility in Tuscaloosa. Beyond his work on the field, he also sent a strong message.
“I just know whoever’s going to get me is going to get a guy who loves football, loves team, and loves to be a part of something that’s bigger than myself,” said Simpson as the countdown began for the Draft Day on April 23.
Maybe talking big alone doesn’t help in real life, as the real test happens on the field. As Simpson said, he is still training, and that’s true. The Alabama quarterback had the option to opt out of the Pro Day, but he chose not to.
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Simpson kicked things off with a solid measurables check: 6’1″, 211 lbs, with compact 30 7/8″ arms and 9 3/8″ hands. During the combine drills, his passing skills were spot on. But he knew that he had to push harder, as he was behind other quarterbacks when it came to experience.
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He saw limited playing time in his first three seasons at Alabama and is NFL-bound only after 15 college starts. So, in order to cancel out all the doubts, he decided to hit the Pro Day. There, he threw to Germie Bernard, Ryan Williams, among others. Simpson teamed up with QB coach David Morris for a scripted workout and delivered a near-flawless run, going 50-for-55, according to The Athletic. That’s how the quarterback kept pushing himself to his furthest limits.
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“Why not? You let it rip,” Simpson said. “That was something when you look at my tape, I’d make the big-time throws. I’d make the easy throws. Being able to show off my arms and show off my feet was something I wanted to do.”
His 2025 season resume did enough talking. Making his debut as Alabama’s full-time starter in 2025, Simpson set the tone early with a 9-1 start. Even with a mid-to-late season dip in efficiency, he closed with 3,567 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and a solid 64.5% completion rate against only five interceptions.
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If Simpson had wanted, he would have just banked on his 2025 stats sheet and maybe an NFL Combine appearance and enjoyed this period before the draft. But no, he kept working hard. According to NFL draft analyst Chad Reuter, his mock draft shows Simpson as the No. 16 pick for the New York Jets. In the same list, Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza is the No.1 pick for the Las Vegas Raiders. But a CFB analyst stirred the pot by bringing up a Simpson vs. Mendoza comparison.
CFB analyst places Ty Simpson on a higher pedestal than Fernando Mendoza
Talking about Simpson’s USP? He has the tools to diagnose it all. Simpson commands the line of scrimmage, leverages pre-snap motion, and reads defensive tells to stay a step ahead once the ball is snapped. So, the fact that he struggled in the latter half of the season was mainly due to Alabama’s pass protection starting to wobble.
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“If you’re watching the tape into November, Ty Simpson’s clearly better than Fernando Mendoza. Fernando Mendoza didn’t play well against Iowa, Oregon, or Penn State,” Todd McShay said. “My eyes tell me Ty Simpson’s every bit as good, in some ways better, and more NFL-ready than Mendoza.”
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Mendoza did put together a Heisman-worthy masterpiece: 72% completions, 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. But ex-NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky argued that Simpson did more with less while at Alabama.
“I think when we look at the body of work and what was asked of these two quarterbacks, you have to start with the question: who needed to do more to carry their football team to play well? Ty Simpson and it’s not close between those two quarterbacks,” Orlovsky said. “Who took more games over throughout the course of the season? Ty Simpson and it’s not even close.”
Even though Ty Simpson decided to show up again on Pro Day and pitched himself highly, maybe his luck was bad. Alabama’s Pro Day schedule clashed with Ohio State’s. So, NFL GMs flocked to Columbus, and only Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles was spotted in Tuscaloosa. But with all the hype, will a thin NFL crowd really matter?