He spent his entire collegiate career at Alabama and earned the starting job in 2025. He played in 16 games over his first three years, completing 29 of 50 passing attempts for 381 yards. Simpson then played all 16 games in 2025 and finished last season completing 305 of 473 passing attempts for 3,567 yards and 28 touchdowns. Alabama went on to face Georgia in the SEC championship and make the playoffs, beating Oklahoma in the first round and losing to Indiana in the Rose Bowl Game.
Simpson then made the decision to declare for the draft in early January after one season as a starter. But for Simpson, he believed he was prepared for the next step.
“I feel like I’m ready. I’m a franchise quarterback,” Simpson said. “Alabama prepares you most for the NFL, and with the infrastructure that they had and the guidance from Coach (Nick) Saban, and then Coach (Kalen) DeBoer, Coach (Ryan) Grubb, all the coordinators that I had before, I run an NFL type system. It’s definitely prepared me for seeing those long play calls, seeing those checks and making sure that I get this in the right protection.
“Also as well, everybody talks about my starts, but I’ve played in other games besides that,” Simpson continued. “I’ve played against really good NFL players. I think about my freshman year, learning from the number one overall pick and Heisman Trophy winner (Bryce Young), going on defense, going on scout team, I got Will Anderson, Dallas Turner, Henry To’oTo’o, I got Kool-Aid (McKinstry) on one side, I got Terrion (Arnold) on the other side. There’s a number of first- and second-round draft picks that I went against and who I was in the locker room with. The Alabama locker room was as close as a locker room in the NFL as you can get.”