If you follow the NFL Drafts of the last several years, you know that one thing is clear: Nothing is for certain. There are blabbermouths like Mel Kiper and Todd McShay whose only job is to predict where guys will be picked in the draft each year, and they STILL get it wrong.
A second thing you may notice is that many times, the big names who made all the SportsCenter college highlights last fall are not always the dudes picked in the beginning of the draft. The most valued positions are quarterbacks, guys who are trying to kill the quarterbacks, and guys who are trying to stop the guys who are trying to kill the quarterbacks. But in the end, football is and always will be about the quarterback. Thus every year we seem to see teams draft certain signal callers earlier in the draft than the smarty-pants all predicted.
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Which brings us to former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. The big knock in the media is that “he only started 15 college games”. But in those games, he threw for 3,567 yards with 28 touchdowns and only five interceptions. The unwritten rule “30-Start Rule” may have history on its side, but an exception may have to be made in this case.
Many former quarterbacks who are now analysts have been raving about Ty.
THE MOCKERS
The popular pick for Simpson seems to be with Pittsburgh at the 21st pick of the 2026 NFL Draft. But will he still be there at 21? Will the Steelers necessitate moving up in the draft?
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According to reliable NFL reports, the former Bama QB had visits with the Jets, Cardinals, Dolphins, and Browns. All four of these teams select inside of the top 11. Simpson also had a formal meeting with the Steelers at the NFL Combine, but he was not been brought in for a pre-draft visit — which could be Pittsburgh playing possum. The Jets, Dolphins, and Browns all have two first round picks, while the Cards and Steelers have one each. This situation makes it all the more difficult for GMs to play their chess games as they jockey for position in the draft.
2026 NFL QUARTERBACK SITUATIONS
Outside of trades, the draft order is decided by the previous year’s final records. It should be no shocker that most of the worst teams have issues at the field general position.
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No. 1 Las Vegas Raiders – Needs per NFL.com: QB, WR, OL, DL, CB. The Raiders had one quarterback on the roster (Aidan O’Connell) before recently signing ol’ man Kirk Cousins. The belief is Vegas will still draft Fernando Mendoza so the 38-year old veteran Cousins can mentor him.
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No. 2 New York Jets – Needs: QB, Edge, WR, CB, OL. The Jets traded for Geno Smith but the guy is 35 and looking like he is on the backside of his career. There was a good reason that Seattle and then Vegas dumped him.
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No. 3 Arizona Cardinals – Needs: QB, OL, Edge, DL, LB. The Kyler Murray Experiment is mercifully over in the desert. Arizona appears ready to go with Jacoby Brissett who at 32 had the best season of his career in 2025. But was it a fluke? Gardner Minshew was signed as the back-up. Both of those guys are free agents after the 2026 season.
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No. 6 Cleveland Browns – Needs: QB, OL, WR, CB, Edge. What a soap opera of quarterbacks this organization is. The Brownies went through Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel in 2025, and they all sucked. A year after drafting the latter two in the 3rd and 5th rounds, would Cleveland use a 1 on Simpson??
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No. 8 New Orleans Saints – The Aints say they are rolling with Tyler Shough for another season, but could this be a second straight year of tanking so that they can get draft their crush Arch Manning in 2027?
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No. 11 Miami Dolphins – The Dolphins dumped Tua and signed… wait for it… Malik Willis. That surely can’t be the answer. Right? Well, the Fins gave Willis a three-year, $67.5 million contract to move to South Beach with $45 million guaranteed. It seems unlikely they draft Simpson, but who knows? Quinn Ewers is also on the roster.
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No. 16 New York Jets – Second first round pick
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No. 18 Minnesota Vikings – The dummies in Minnesota seem to think J.J. McCarthy will eventually work out after his trash season in 2025 (11 TD, 12 INT). But it might be a tentative hope since they went out and picked up the Ewok Kyler Murray who sucked as well. If Simpson falls this far, the Vikes could be a surprise landing spot.
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No. 20 Dallas Cowboys – Second first round pick but doubtful they use it on a QB.
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No. 21 Pittsburgh Steelers – Needs: QB, OL, WR, TE, LB. It’s yet another round of waiting around to see if Aaron Rodgers (age 42) is going to retire or return. Either way, Pitt will need a QB for the future and/or a back-up plan should AA-Ron get hurt again. The other options would be Will Howard or Mason Rudolph, Ugh.
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No. 24 Cleveland Browns – Second first round pick
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No. 28 Houston Texans – C.J. Stroud is not quite developing like Houston thought, but they aren’t ready to give up on him just yet.
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No. 29 Kansas City Chiefs – Second first round pick. Two major events happened to Mahomes last season. He turned 30 and suffered a torn ACL — not a great combination. He also had his lowest passing touchdown total and QB rating since his rookie year in which he played one game. Might it be wise to grab a guy to develop in case Mahomes starts to fall apart?
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No. 30 Miami Dolphins – Second first round pick
TEAMS WITH NO FIRST ROUND PICKS
Five teams traded away their first round selection in previous drafts. It is highly doubtful that any of these five would trade up for a QB as they seem set at the position for 2026.
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FREE AGENTS
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Russell Wilson – Now 37 and not what he used to be.
HATERS
CONSENSUS
Among mock draftniks, the top three predictions in numerical order are the Jets second first round pick at 16, No. 21 Pittsburgh, and the Browns second pick at 24. The GMs of all the candidate teams will be doing their best to read each other’s minds. If the Steelers really want Simpson, would they dare risk waiting for all these other teams to pass on him? (Remember that Rogers is still a free agent as of this post.) We may see a trade-up by someone.
TY SIMPSON
By all accounts, Simpson had a very impressive Pro Day. So, what is his downside? According to the talking heads, it is lack of starts and playing time. In his time at Alabama, he played in 31 games with 15 starts. However, he is 23 years old, spent four years on a SEC team, and played in some big-time football games. It would be wrong and unfair to put him in the same category as former top 4 picks Anthony Richardson or Trey Lance who took their first NFL snaps at age 21 with similar number of college starts.
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There is no denying that the former Crimson Tide quarterback is a good guy, smart, and a great leader. For the first eight games of the season, he was looking like the Heisman front-runner. But the porous Bama offensive line and a severe case of gastritis that led to significant weight loss, affected his performance down the stretch. He is better now and has regained the weight.
Is he ready to be a NFL starter? Maybe or maybe not, but it has got to be hard to pass on the potential next big thing.
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