Why Ty Simpson will be Selected in the Top 16 of NFL Draft: Just a Minute

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a video series featuring Alabama Crimson Tide on SI's beat writers. Multiple times per week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral writer Theodore Fernandez explains why Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson will be selected in the top half of the first round of this month's NFL Draft.

With just over three weeks until draft day, the discourse around Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson is heating up.

Simpson, who entered draft season with a very ambiguous draft profile, has steadily climbed up boards over the past three months. After a strong showing at February's combine in Indianapolis, Simpson has emerged as the clear No. 2 QB in the class behind only Indiana's Fernando Mendoza.

Thus, Simpson became the latest subject of what has become a near-annual trend: the meteoric rise of a QB prospect with a previously uncertain stock. Simpson has had private workouts with numerous teams, significantly the New York Jets, who appear to be the frontrunner in his sweepstakes.

The Jets hold picks No. 2 and No. 16 in the draft. It is doubtful (but not impossible) that Simpson goes second, but it seems exceedingly likely that New York would take him at sixteen.

The fact of the matter is that the opportunity to take the second-best QB in a class outside of the top-10 does not come along very often. Yes, this is not the strongest quarterback class, and yes, Simpson has flaws as a prospect, but he is good enough. It feels like a cop-out to use that term, but so often, being good enough is all it takes for these quarterbacks.

Since the NFL expanded to 32 teams in 2002, there have been just two drafts without multiple first-round QBs. Those drafts were 2013, where the second-best prospect was Geno Smith, and 2022, a generationally weak class headlined by Kenny Pickett and Desmond Ridder. Simpson has better tape and is significantly higher rated than any of the secondary QBs in those classes.

It's hard to say where he ends up. It could be the Jets at two. It could be the Cardinals at three. It could be the Rams at 13. It could be any QB-hungry team that falls in love with him and decides they need to trade up for their new franchise guy. But make no mistake, if Simpson is sitting there at 16, the Jets will take him.

That is the floor for Simpson on April 23.

Why Ty Simpson will be Selected in the Top 16 of NFL Draft: Just a Minute

More on Ty Simpson:

'Why Not?': Ty Simpson’s Final Statement at Alabama

Ty Simpson Talks How Alabama Prepared Him to be NFL 'Franchise Quarterback'

Hares, Hogs, And The Hunting Trips That Cemented Ty Simpson As A Leader