Many teams want to know what they're getting out of young players, and one NFL scout seems to think that Ty Simpson's career will head down a similar path to these two quarterbacks.
Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson is no stranger to making headlines over this draft season, and it’s picking up with just a few weeks left until the 2026 NFL Draft.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, one NFL scout compared Simpson to a mix of Jared Goff and Alabama alum Mac Jones.
"I don't think anyone expects him to come in right away and be great,” one AFC executive said about Simpson. “If picked in the 20s, he'll get experience and reps and get legs under him. He's a good kid, a coach's kid, had a lot of good production and success. Maybe not on the same tier as top guys, but he's still a player."
Simpson was the center of draft discourse a few weeks ago after ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky suggested that he was the best overall quarterback in the draft, over consensus number-one overall pick Fernando Mendoza.
Comparing Simpson to Jones can certainly bring back a little nostalgia for Gump Nation, as Jones was a major driving force in the 2020 National Championship team.
But Jones hasn’t had the type of success that he would’ve hoped, after getting selected 15th overall in the 2021 Draft.
He took the New England Patriots to the playoffs in his first season as a starter, and made the Pro Bowl, but it’s been downhill since.
Since then, Jones has had a few stops as a backup with the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers.
Goff, on the other hand, may not be a star, but he’s incredibly successful at what he’s done on the gridiron.
He spent five successful years with the Los Angeles Rams, including taking them to the Super Bowl. Then once he was traded to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford, he drastically improved, completing 67% of his passes, with four consecutive 4,400-plus passing yard seasons.
You can certainly understand what the AFC Executive was saying by comparing Simpson to those two quarterbacks, but there’s one part of Simpson’s game that he does exceptionally better.
Running the ball.
Simpson’s rushing stats are going to look extremely skewed because of how much he was sacked. He was sacked, on average 2.4 times per game, and in college, the amount of yards you lose on downs from a sack, is also tacked onto your season totals.
Regardless, he’s incredibly underrated when he’s using his legs.
While he was a backup in garbage time, Simpson rushed for 79 yards against Chattanooga, and had he not made the mistake of dropping the ball at the one yard line, it would’ve been a touchdown.
However, both Goff and Jones have never had a rush that has gone farther than 26 yards.
This past season suggests that Simpson was slower than what he actually is, because of the several injuries he was playing through. However, he has the speed to be a quality dual-threat quarterback.
Even though he’s being compared to a pair of quality game managers, it’ll be his speed that impresses whatever team drafts him.
And once they notice they have someone who can get it done through the air, and on the ground, the argument Orlovsky is making doesn’t seem so crazy anymore.
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