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Ty Simpson, Mac Jones Headline the Crimson Tide Athletes of the Week

Recognizing the Crimson Tide athletes who dominated this week from Tuscaloosa to the pros.
Theodore Fernandez|
Sep 13, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson (15) tries to avoid a tackle by Wisconsin defensive back Matthew Jung (29) and Wisconsin defensive back Geimere Latimer II (1) at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Sep 13, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson (15) tries to avoid a tackle by Wisconsin defensive back Matthew Jung (29) and Wisconsin defensive back Geimere Latimer II (1) at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. | Gary Cosby-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Alabama football continued to roll in Saturday's 38-14 win over Wisconsin. While the numbers were not quite as eye-popping as they were in the preceding 73-0 victory over Louisiana-Monroe, plenty of players made their case for recognition against the Badgers. Here are the Crimson Tide Athletes of the Week for the week of Sept. 9-15, 2025.

Freshman of the Week: London Simmons

The Louisiana-Monroe game gave us a plethora of options to choose from, with numerous freshmen putting up incredible stat lines against the Warhawks. This week was a return to reality, with far fewer young players getting involved. Lotzeir Brooks had two catches for thirty yards, but had a disappointing third-down drop in the second half that removed him from consideration.

London Simmons is this week's winner as the redshirt freshman put together the best performance of his young career with three tackles and his first career sack, which came on third-and-long and forced a Wisconsin punt. He now likely returns to the bench with the expected return of Tim Keenan for the Georgia game, but Simmons has shown enough to be trusted as a solid rotational piece for the rest of the season.

College Athlete of the Week: Ty Simpson

Simpson was phenomenal against the Badgers, going 24/29 with 382 yards and four touchdowns to earn the award for the second straight week. His stat line should have looked even better, with Ryan Williams dropping a touchdown and the aforementioned drop from Brooks ending another drive. He also continues to impress on the ground, highlighted by an incredible 19-yard run in which he somehow evaded a sack and worked the sideline for a first down. Simpson is firing on all cylinders and has complete command of the offense right now, heading into the biggest game of his career yet against Georgia in two weeks.

Honorable Mention: Ryan Williams

There was a lot of online discourse over the past two weeks calling Williams overrated. His last 100-yard game was nearly a year ago against Georgia, and he struggled in the season-opening loss to Florida State. Those doubts were silenced on Saturday as the sophomore hauled in five passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns. The first came on an 80-yard screen on the first play of the second half, and the second featured one of the best open-field moves of his career. If it weren't for his dropped touchdown in the third quarter, Williams probably would have won the award.

Honorable Mention: Bray Hubbard

No Crimson Tide player faced more widespread criticism following the loss to Florida State than Hubbard. The safety embraced the outside noise and channeled it into what may have been the best game of his career on Saturday, picking off two passes and making aggressive tackles in the win. Hubbard was named the Jim Thorpe Award National DB of the Week and won SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

Honorable Mention: Gianna Paul

The 2024 United Soccer Coaches All-American has somehow managed to get even better in her senior season. With six goals and three assists in nine games to start the year, Paul is very much in the running for SEC Player of the Year. She scored two goals this week to become Alabama soccer's all-time leading goal scorer.

Pro Athlete of the Week: Mac Jones

Jones had an excellent day filling in at quarterback for the injured Brock Purdy, leading the 49ers to a 26-21 road win over the Saints, going 23/33 with 253 yards and three touchdowns. The 2021 Pro Bowler looked like a natural fit in Kyle Shanahan's offense, albeit against a very bad football team. With Purdy's status unknown for the coming weeks, San Francisco has to feel good about Jones filling in for the time being. The Cardinals and Jaguars are next on the 49ers' schedule, giving Jones two more very winnable games if Purdy does not return early.

Honorable Mention: Brian Branch

Branch was all over the field in Detroit's 52-21 win over the Bears, recording six tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a defended pass (the first Lions' defensive back to put up those numbers in a game this century). He also ironically robbed former Crimson Tide teammate Terrion Arnold of his first career interception, as Branch was called for roughing the passer on Arnold's would-be pick. Branch disagreed with the call postgame, but also joked that he owes Arnold one now.

Clutch Athletes of the Week: Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith

There was admittedly not much to choose from in this category this week, with Alabama football, soccer, and volleyball each winning all of their games convincingly (with the exception being soccer's lone loss to South Carolina). Bryce Young almost led the Panthers on an 18-point comeback against the Cardinals, but fell short on the potential last-minute game-winning drive.

Hurts and Smith get the nod thanks to their game-sealing fourth-quarter connection against the Chiefs on Sunday. Facing a third-and-ten, Hurts dropped back and found Smith inside the five-yard line to set up a touchdown that gave the Eagles an insurmountable ten-point lead in the Super Bowl rematch.

Glue Guy of the Week: Robbie Ouzts

Ouzts is picking up right where he left off in Tuscaloosa. The fifth-round rookie took out two defenders on one play in the Seahawks' 31-17 win over the Steelers. It simply does not get more "glue" than this. The fullback will almost certainly be in contention for this award many more times throughout the season.

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Theodore Fernandez
THEODORE FERNANDEZ

Theodore Fernandez is BamaCentral’s baseball beat reporter and a co-host of The Joe Gaither Show. He also works as a weekend sports anchor at WVUA 23 News in Tuscaloosa and serves as one of the station’s lead high school sports reporters. Fernandez is a news media student at The University of Alabama and is pursuing a master’s degree in sports management.

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