![\"Ty](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2234588748-e1775589461367.jpg\")
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Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson on the sideline during a college football game.<\/p>\n
The New York Jets<\/a> have done a lot of work on Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson<\/a> ahead of the 2026 NFL draft.<\/p>\n One of the biggest criticisms of Simpson is his limited resume. He has only had<\/a> 15 career college starts. If you look at the data from a historical perspective, there hasn\u2019t been a lot of success from quarterbacks with that level of limited experience.<\/p>\n \u201cSince 2011, six of the seven first-round quarterbacks with fewer than 17 college starts didn\u2019t pan out in the NFL<\/a>: Jake Locker (12), Christian Ponder (12), Anthony Richardson<\/a> Sr. (13), Mitchell Trubisky<\/a> (13), Blaine Gabbert<\/a> (13), and Dwayne Haskins<\/a> (14). The lone exception was Cam Newton<\/a> (14), the 2015 NFL MVP,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Rich Cimini<\/a> wrote.<\/p>\n On Monday, April 6, I sat down with Oregon State offensive cooridator and quarterbacks coach Mitch Dahlen on \u201cBoy Green Daily.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Before taking this new gig with the Beavers, Dahlen was in the Alabama quarterback room with Simpson over the last two years.<\/p>\n I asked him what his response was to people who criticize Simpson for his 15 career college starts.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, numbers speak for themselves. It\u2019s easy to say that, but then you get around the kid and talk to the kid, and you\u2019re like, okay. That\u2019s why I think he is going to be a first-rounder, with all of these interviews and he is with all of these NFL execs and all these people, and you get the kid on the board and the kid is talking football, and then you\u2019re like \u2018Yeah, I\u2019m good,’\u201d Dahlen told me<\/a> on the podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cI know he\u2019s had 15 [career starts], but he operates like he is at 55 [career starts]. You know what I mean? To me, that is our job as coaches, to get him to a point where, regardless of how many starts they have, if they\u2019re able to master a system like that and talk through just football, I mean, someone is going to take that opportunity to take Ty just off that alone. That 15 has a big asterisk on it because he has been around football his whole life,\u201d Dahlen emphatically said<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of the biggest criticisms of #Jets<\/a> QB target Ty Simpson is his 15 career college starts. <\/p>\n Coach @mitchdahlen4<\/a>, who worked with Simpson the last 2 years at Alabama, pushed back on that storyline & explained to me why there\u2019s a \u2018big asterisk\u2019 on that:<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, numbers <\/p>\n Will Simpson Be a 1st Round QB?<\/p>\n One of the biggest storylines heading into April\u2019s draft is where Simpson will go.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a polarizing topic.<\/p>\n In Peter Schrager\u2019s<\/a> mock draft for ESPN, which he did \u201cbased on what\u201d he is hearing. Simpson didn\u2019t go in the first round.<\/p>\n On the consensus big board<\/a>, Simpson is ranked as the 31st best overall player in this class.<\/p>\n \u201cLike the kid can operate at an NFL level. I mean, to me, that is why Ty is talked about in the first round. He is a first-round quarterback just off his operation alone. What we asked him to do at the line of scrimmage, he is a first-rounder. Then, when you put in the physical attributes and you watch the throws he made, it\u2019s like, yeah, this kid should be one of those first 32 picks,\u201d Dahlen told me on \u201cBoy Green Daily.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Simpson Impressed Jets With the Mental Game<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Rich Cimini revealed some key details from Simpson\u2019s private workout with the Jets.<\/p>\n \u201cThey did some classroom work, and from what I understand, no surprise here, he is very impressive on the whiteboard. He is a smart quarterback. The coaches loved him, he is a coach\u2019s kind of quarterback, but is he a scout\u2019s kind of quarterback? There\u2019s a difference. The scouts are looking for the traits: size, arm strength, [and] the speed. That is not where he checks the boxes,\u201d Cimini explained on the \u201cJets Collective\u201d<\/a> podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cHe checks it with [a] cerebral approach, the ability to get to the line of scrimmage, and do the whole Peyton Manning thing, move guys around, read the defense, read the Mike linebacker \u2014 he\u2019s great at that stuff. That is where he really impressed the Jets,\u201d Cimini added.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d be more surprised if someone said he tanked,\u201d coach Dahlen told me on \u201cBoy Green Daily.\u201d<\/a> \u201cHe\u2019d be in my office just drawing plays on the board. We\u2019d be in there as an offensive staff, and I\u2019d come back from my whiteboard and see a bunch of plays that Ty drew on my board. I\u2019d take pictures of them, and a lot of them would end up in the game plan sometimes. He just has a natural feel for the game. Like the plays he was drawing up on my whiteboard when I wasn\u2019t in there, and I came back to my office and said, \u2018I could see that. That\u2019s a good play.\u2019 We\u2019d get some of those in. The thing I love about him is he sees the game like a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n Dahlen explained to me that they put a lot on Simpson\u2019s plate. They gave him the freedom to diagnose things at the line of scrimmage, and that is a place where Simpson thrived.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has been in his dad\u2019s office installing plays since he was like five [years old]. To me, that\u2019s the cool piece, with his brother and his dad, Jason; he has been ready for these moments before he put a helmet on. He has been around it his whole life, which is awesome,\u201d Dahlen added.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tPaul Esden Jr.<\/a> covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts a morning show, “The Manchild Show with Boy Green Digital.” Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY, and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Jets\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t