One of the biggest debates entering the 2026 NFL Draft is where former Alabama QB Ty Simpson will be selected. Projected as high as the late first round, it could come down to the wire whether he hears his name on night one.

However, Simpson was in Arizona on his pre-draft visit with the Cardinals this week. While the meeting was some indication, ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed there’s interest from Arizona in Simpson — so much so that they could trade into the first round and take him off the board before Thursday night’s end.

“It certainly feels like there’s a lot of smoke around the Arizona Cardinals,” Schefter said on NFL Live on Thursday. “I think the Los Angeles Rams would have had some interest in Ty Simpson if they had two first round picks, which they don’t. And where was Mike LaFleur before he took the Cardinals head coaching job? Los Angeles with the Rams.”

Some analysts, such as Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates, both have the Cardinals trading up into the first round to select Simpson. Kiper projects Simpson to go 30th overall while Yates projects him going 26th overall in their latest mock drafts. This would give Arizona two first-round picks as they already hold the No. 3 overall selection.

“Now, the Cardinals have the (second) pick in the second round. That is a valuable pick to bargain with,” Schefter said. “They certainly could decide to move up. They certainly could sit back and wait for Ty Simpson to try to come to them.

“It depends on how much they like him, but there is a feeling around the league that the Cardinals certainly have some level of interest in Ty Simpson. We’ll find out exactly how much that is one week from tonight.”

Their colleague, Matt Miller, has the Jets drafting Simpson in the second round. So it remains to be seen exactly where he’ll end up. But it’s clear that at least a couple of teams have interest in drafting the former Alabama quarterback.

The 2026 NFL Draft is set for Thursday, April 23 through Saturday, April 25 in Pittsburgh. Simpson will hope to hear his name called on night one, but won’t have to wait long if he falls to Friday.