Report: Ty Simpson Expected to be Named Alabama's Starting Quarterback

After three years on the sidelines, signs have pointed to Tennessee native Ty Simpson getting his shot.

Ty Simpson (15). | Alabama Athletics

When No. 8 Alabama takes the field in Tallahassee for its season opener on August 30 against Florida State, redshirt junior Ty Simpson will get the first crack at the quarterback job, per a report from Colin Gay of The Tuscaloosa News.

Simpson has been the favorite for the job since spring practice, after which offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said Simpson would be the starter if regular season games had been around the corner then, sentiment he reaffirmed in June.

Austin Mack and Keelon Russell have been vying for the job alongside Simpson, but separation by the latter player might have been inevitable due to his experience edge. Grubb mentioned on August 5, almost a week after fall camp began, that Simpson was no longer taking third-string reps, unlike Mack and Russell.

In a combined 16 games across three collegiate seasons (no starts), Simpson has 381 passing yards on 29 completions. The former five-star also has three career rushing touchdowns. He did not depart the program after Nick Saban's retirement in 2024, despite the fact that he lost the 2023 quarterback competition to Jalen Milroe and was poised to sit behind him for another year last fall.

That time for development, along with the benefit of having spent a year in DeBoer's system already, is key for Simpson given that his college career has not included the turbulence of the transfer process (in some cases, multiple transfers) like many players' careers have in current times.

Mack has actually been familiar with DeBoer's system the longest, having spent 2023 with him at Washington. However, he does not have a large number of game reps just yet, with only one college game on his ledger as of this writing. Russell, a true freshman from Texas, enrolled early but has not seen any game action yet.

One thing that is evident is that the coaching staff believes in Simpson, enough that Grubb has publicly backed him multiple times. This past Saturday, after the team scrimmaged for the first time during fall camp, DeBoer praised Simpson's command of the huddle.

"I would've said before camp that we definitely got to make a decision by the time we get done with the second scrimmage, and I would anticipate, for sure, that being the case. We'll see kind of how the next few days go," DeBoer said Saturday. "But it's two good showings, I think, especially by Austin and Ty again today, and I think Keelon [is] making the progress we'd hope for."