Rumors are swirling about the impending health of Alabama QB Ty Simpson, and many are saying that he may have been playing injured for quite a while.
If you’ve been an avid reader of our takeaways pieces after every Alabama game, you’d know that we’ve been wary of quarterback Ty Simpson for the past few weeks.
Something hasn’t been right. He’s panicky, his accuracy has been quite pedestrian, and he’s not paying any mind to his second and third reads.
What made Simpson so special early on was his ability to thread the needle on close passes and split two defenders to find the perfect pocket where only he can drop the ball in.
Since Week 9 against South Carolina, that version of Simpson is nowhere to be found. Away goes his Heisman candidacy, forget going number one overall in the NFL Draft too.
Whatever you saw in the first half of the season has immediately been overshadowed by a shell of his former self.
And it makes you think – is Simpson hurt?
The only other explanation you can make is if he’s letting the pressure get to him, but if you listen to what he says in interviews, it’s hardly the tone of a man who has fallen victim to the expectations of pressure.
In the first nine games of the season, Simpson managed to take care of the ball – for the most part.
He had an astounding touchdown-to-interception ratio, only throwing one pick, but he did have some problems fumbling after he was strip-sacked in six consecutive games.
But now, Turnover City just gained a new resident.
Because in the past four games, he’s thrown an interception four times. Two of them being to FCS Eastern Illinois.
Perhaps you can give him slack since the second interception was from a Hail Mary throw, but the first one was unacceptable for someone of his stature.
Which is why there’s concern that he may be hiding something.
You obviously want to take these encounters with a grain of salt, but an eyewitness stated that Simpson had looked “banged up.”
There were rumors that he was dealing with a back injury which culminated either at the Iron Bowl or during the Missouri game.
Nothing has been confirmed and Alabama has understandably kept hum on this issue, but if Simpson is indeed dealing with a back issue, that’s significantly more serious than most injuries that players play through.
Coming into the first round of the College Football Playoffs in a raucous environment in Norman, Oklahoma, you have to imagine that the Oklahoma defense is going to be running wild.
That could spell trouble for Simpson, who was already seeing ghosts in Tuscaloosa.
It’s clear that Oklahoma has had Alabama’s number over the past few years, and a battered quarterback isn’t going to do the Crimson Tide many favors.