Colin Cowherd sees two red flags that could sink Ty Simpson at the professional level. The Alabama quarterback is polarizing evaluators as the 2026 NFL Draft approaches. He authored a strong stretch of play in the Southeastern Conference last fall, but his resume lacks the volume to guarantee a smooth professional transition.
Cowherd believes projecting Simpson to the next level requires a leap of faith. The veteran broadcaster pointed to a lack of collegiate experience and physical measurements as the primary culprits during a recent segment of “The Herd”.
Colin Cowherd Names 2 Major Red Flags for Ty Simpson
“Well, one of the things that fails for college guys in the pros is that they don’t have enough starts,” Cowherd said on his podcast. “Ty Simpson has 15 starts. In the history of the NFL, that is a whiff; it doesn’t work. Also, he is not huge. His size is average to below-average. Not a lot of college starts and lacking size, those are two total red flags to me.”
The experience concern is a point of contention for many scouts. Simpson waited behind Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe before finally taking the reins. He seized the starting job in 2025 and led the Crimson Tide to an 11-4 record, including a trip to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, where they fell to Indiana in the Rose Bowl.
That one-year sample size, totaling 15 career starts, is a historical hurdle. The recent history of NFL teams drafting quarterbacks with fewer than 20 collegiate starts includes mixed results. Anthony Richardson logged 13 starts at Florida, while others like Mitchell Trubisky (13) and Trey Lance (17) struggled to find footing. However, Simpson’s 2025 production was notable: 3,567 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and five interceptions on 473 attempts.
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Modern NFL defensive coordinators run exotic coverages that prey on inexperienced processors. While Simpson is hailed as a “mechanical marvel” by some, Cowherd argues that a quarterback cannot simulate those live game repetitions in a film room or during skeleton passing drills.
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The physical concerns add to the debate. Simpson measured 6-foot-1 and 211 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine. While he lacks a “superpower” arm like Josh Allen, his accuracy (64.5% completion rate) and football IQ as a coach’s son have kept him in the first-round conversation.
Evaluators noticed his efficiency dip late in the season, completing 58.5% of his passes over the final five games, which some attribute to the physical toll of an SEC schedule. Regardless of the red flags, mock drafts from experts like Charles Davis and Chad Reuter still project Simpson as a top-20 pick, with the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals as potential landing spots.
