Estimated Reading Time:7 minutes
Background
Ty Simpson is a 6-foot-2, 208-pound quarterback who recently concluded his collegiate career with the Alabama Crimson Tide. Originally a five-star recruit, Simpson spent three years developing behind starters Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe before taking the reins as Alabama‘s full-time starter in the 2025 season.
In his one season as the starter, he earned Second-Team All-SEC honors and led the Tide to an 11–4 record with an appearance in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
2025 PFF Grades and Stats (rank out of 57 draft-eligible QBs)
- Overall PFF Grade: 83.1 (12th)
- Big-Time Throw %: 6.0% (10th)
- Turnover-Worthy Play %: 3.0% (T-22nd)
- Adjusted Completion %: 75.3% (15th)
- Accuracy %: 58.7% (24th)
- Pressure-to-Sack Rate: 18.3% (34th)
- PFF Clean-Pocket Grade: 91.3 (7th)
- PFF Under-Pressure Grade: 47.6 (29th)
Scouting Evaluation
When scouting quarterbacks, I break down their game into five overarching categories from most important to least: Processing/decision-making, accuracy/mechanics, pocket presence, playmaking/athleticism and arm talent. Then, using PFF’s Big Board Builder, I can assign a number grade out of 10. Below, I’ll go into detail about the grade I’ve given in each category.
Processing/Decision-Making: 8/10
For someone that has just one year of experience as a starter, Ty Simpson has shown flashes of high-level processing. He’s displayed that he can do a good job of setting protections and identifying blitzes pre-snap, and has some of the more impressive anticipatory throws in this draft class.
He’s fearless with his decision-making and shows he has a good understanding of how to attack zone coverages, specifically over the middle of the field. Among draft-eligible quarterbacks, Simpson has the second-most completions and sixth-highest PFF passing grade on throws over the middle .
On the flip side, he too often tests the limits of what he can get away with, resulting in some bad decisions and a relatively high 3.0% turnover-worthy play percentage. It’s a gift and a curse to be willing to test those limits, and as he transitions to the NFL, he could have a hard time figuring out how to balance that fearlessness.
Accuracy/Mechanics: 7/10
Ty Simpson’s accuracy can be one of the more concerning areas of his game. His accuracy percentage of 58.7% is 24th out of 57 draft-eligible quarterbacks, and that’s particularly evident when he’s targeting receivers to the wide parts of the field. On such attempts, his uncatchable rate jumps from 21.9% to 27.4% — 13th-highest in the draft class. Simpson doesn’t have the natural velocity needed, so he has to really stress to make some of these throws out wide — which can lead to inaccuracies.
Everywhere else on the field, there aren’t a ton of problems with Simpson’s accuracy. On attempts over the middle of the field, he’s shown he can hit receivers in stride. Likewise, his deep ball is serviceable, and he doesn’t have a problem under- or overthrowing receivers.
Pocket Presence: 6.5/10
You can really see Simpson’s inexperience when looking at how he maneuvers the pocket. It’s a hard trait to work on unless you are playing in an active game — and with just one season of starts under his belt, you could see him struggle. There was very little feel for pressure, and when he was in a muddy pocket, Simpson got too panicky instead of bailing out of it.
His pressure-to-sack rate of 18.3% isn’t alarmingly high, but his 47.6 overall PFF grade under pressure is. It’s why you saw Alabama’s offense really start to die out in the latter parts of the season. If defenses got pressure home, there was almost no response from Simpson and the Tide offense.
Playmaking/Athleticism: 6.5/10
Ty Simpson is a good enough athlete to be an effective runner when he has the chance, but he isn’t ever really looking to run. He wants to be a quarterback that stays in the pocket and wins from there.
When he is forced out of the pocket and has to make plays, there’s not much on tape, and it was typically a death sentence to Alabama’s offense when he exited. When required to move, Simpson’s overall PFF grade drops to 53.0 — 24th in the entire draft class.
Arm Talent: 6.5/10
Ty Simpson’s arm strength is typically at the root of his problems. That’s not to say his arm is bad; he just tends to struggle to really generate velocity, and you see it a lot on the throws outside of the numbers and throws on the run. It’s not detrimental to his game, but it is a roadblock because it requires him to be close to perfect with his processing and decision-making to make up for the lack of velocity he has.
Simpson really needs to be kept clean in the pocket so he can generate velocity with his base. When he can’t get that strong base under him, he doesn’t have the natural velocity in just his arm to get the job done.
Final Grade: 7.08/10 – Solid Starter
There is a lot to like when watching Ty Simpson. You can put on a highlight tape of some of his throws over the middle of the field and become enamored with him as a prospect. However, when things aren’t perfect, it really starts to fall apart. His arm talent and accuracy really wane, and the entire offense fails to generate anything with pressure.
Simpson is a guy that could’ve really used another year of starts under his belt in college to improve upon some of his decision-making and get a better feel in the pocket. Far too often, we see inexperienced quarterbacks thrust into the NFL to try and learn on the fly. If Simpson is really given time to learn and develop, I can see him turning into a solid starter at the NFL level.