What Ty Simpson’s NFL Draft Decision Means for Alabama Moving Forward

January 7, 2026 Michael Brauner Alabama, Alabama, Featured News
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 04: Washington Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer during the college football game between the Washington Huskies and the USC Trojans on November 04, 2023, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA.(Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire)

The Alabama Crimson Tide is going to have a new quarterback next season.

According to various reports on Wednesday morning, Ty Simpson is headed to the NFL Draft after a roller coaster of a 2025 season where at times he looked like a potential Heisman winner and others he looked completely lost.

Regardless of the way things went down the stretch of the season, Simpson’s phenomenal tape from early in the season will likely give him a great chance to wind up being selected in the first round, which was ultimately likely the biggest factor in the decision.

He posted a video on Instagram announcing the decision and thanking Alabama for a wonderful four years here after he chose to stay and work his way towards a season as starter.

 

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A post shared by Ty Simpson (@ty_simpson06)

While the Tide could have benefited in 2026 from another season with Simpson under center, his departure also allows the program to turn an exciting page in year three of the Kalen DeBoer era. For the first time, DeBoer will be starting a quarterback who he fully recruited and developed himself rather than Simpson and Jalen Milroe — both of whom were obviously holdovers from the Nick Saban era.

The two presumptive favorites of course to compete for QB1 in Tuscaloosa are Austin Mack — who DeBoer brought with him from Washington — and Keelon Russell, the former highly touted five-star who was one of the best players in the nation as a high schooler for Texas powerhouse Duncanville.

Assuming neither gunslinger shocks everyone and chooses to transfer, Mack likely enters the offseason with a slight edge after serving as the backup this season and getting the chance to play most of the second half of the Rose Bowl after Simpson went out due to a rib injury.

Mack has now been in DeBoer’s system for three seasons going back to 2023 at Washington, and he was obviously someone DeBoer thought highly enough of that he wanted to bring him to Alabama when he took the job.

Russell on the other hand has as high a ceiling as any quarterback who has come through Tuscaloosa, and though he served as the third string in his freshman year, many see him as the future of the program. His otherworldly talent could carry him through the spring and push him ahead of Mack despite being behind him this year.

While Jett Thomalla and Tayden Kaawa each could have an outside shot at pushing their way up the depth chart as well, this certainly seems to be a Mack vs. Russell race to be Alabama’s starting quarterback next year.

It should be another exciting spring of football in Tuscaloosa as the two big armed hopefuls try to stake their claim as the main man in DeBoer’s offense for what will be a critical third season with the stakes as high as ever.