{"id":651014,"date":"2026-01-03T15:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T15:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/651014\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T15:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T15:46:11","slug":"alabama-qb-opens-up-on-2026-nfl-draft-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/651014\/","title":{"rendered":"Alabama QB opens up on 2026 NFL Draft decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ty Simpson will have a decision to make about his future in the upcoming weeks, but the Alabama quarterback wasn\u2019t ready for that in the immediate aftermath of the Crimson Tide\u2019s 38-3 loss to Indiana in Thursday\u2019s College Football Playoff game.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not at all,\u201d Simpson told reporters when asked if he has made plans yet for 2026 yet, according to AL.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just really worried about these last minutes with the seniors and everybody who won\u2019t be here next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simpson, who added that he\u2019s \u201cready to get back to work,\u201d completed 12-of-16 passes for just\u00a0 67 yards and sustained a cracked rib \u2014 from absorbing the impact of a helmet \u2014 while scrambling for a first down in the opening half, which eventually prompted him to exit in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

\"AlabamaTy Simpson runs with the ball during Alabama\u2019s Jan. 1 loss to Indiana. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Austin Mack replaced Simpson after the Crimson Tide\u2019s first drive of the second half, and he completed 11-of-16 passes for 103 yards across the rest of the game \u2014 with Simpson acknowledging that he thought Mack being fully healthy could help them win.<\/p>\n

\u201cFelt like I had a good thing going on that drive when I got hit,\u201d Simpson told reporters postgame. \u201cIt kind of changed the momentum for sure. \u2026 The competitor in me wanted to make sure I got the first down. Got more than the first down, and then should have been smart and just got down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simpson served as the Alabama backup for three seasons before taking over the starting role in 2025, throwing for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and five interceptions as the Crimson Tide collected a 10-2 record \u2014 enough to squeeze into the College Football Playoff field as one of the final teams.<\/p>\n

\"NewBrady Cook is ending the season as the Jets\u2019 QB. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Despite struggling against the Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl, Simpson, who has one year of eligibility remaining, has been viewed as a signal-caller who could get selected in the first round of April\u2019s NFL draft behind Indiana\u2019s Fernando Mendoza and Oregon\u2019s Dante Moore.<\/p>\n

That means the Jets and Giants will be monitoring his decision closely.<\/p>\n

Gang Green needs a signal-caller, and the Raiders possessing the top pick entering Week 18\u2019s slate could mean that Mendoza is off the board by the time they make their pick<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Giants already have a potential quarterback of the future in Jaxson Dart, but if they\u2019re looking to trade down with another team perhaps more interested in a quarterback to accumulate more assets, Simpson\u2019s status \u2014 and if he climbs draft boards \u2014 could affect them too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ty Simpson will have a decision to make about his future in the upcoming weeks, but the Alabama…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[930,331,7,56,255,6,15,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-651014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-alabama-crimson-tide","9":"tag-college-football","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-new-york-giants","12":"tag-new-york-jets","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nfl-draft","15":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115831949611914821","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}