It was unseasonably warm for late April outside the Omni William Penn hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. However, that isn’t why the first-year general manager, Jon-Eric Sullivan was sweating. The Dolphins were on the clock and after the train wreck that was the last few years of Chris Grier’s reign as GM, the Dolphin faithful were looking for something to get excited about. They wanted something shiny and flashy, but the two picks he had in mind were not likely to cause a stir, at least not a positive one.
First there was the big mauling tackle from Miami Francis Mauigoa. The type of guy you build a team around, not so different than how the Lions started their rebuild. However, the difference was the Lions already had a QB.
Sullivan was not so sure Malik Willis was the long-term answer. His 20+ years on the Packers’ staff taught him how to build a team through a QB that learned under an established starter—not one thrown to the wolves.
In the last four months since accepting the Dolphin job, Sullivan had learned everything there was to know about Ty Simpson. He is a coach’s son and football runs through his blood. Yes, his year as a starter at Bama didn’t go well, but one wonders how Simpson would have developed if Saban stayed. Simpson has all the athletic traits and mental toughness to be a franchise QB. Sullivan watched every game Simpson played in and was shocked at how often his wide receivers failed him by mis-running routes and dropping passes. His arm strength is considered average but it didn’t take long for QB coach, Bush Hamden, to point out areas where he was not getting everything out of his arm strength that he could. Simpson is mobile and worked well from a busy pocket, often creating something out of nothing when a play broke down.
He could sit for a couple of years under Willis and learn. Sullivan knew people would lament that he was just trying to reproduce the Packers in the south, but he knew what worked. He picked up the phone and announced with the 11th pick the Dolphins will take Ty Simpson, QB out of Alabama.