Indiana University’s Fernando Mendoza, who is widely expected to be drafted with the No. 1 overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders, is unanimously considered the top quarterback prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft. There is somewhat less consensus about who is the No. 2 quarterback prospect, but in general, Alabama’s Ty Simpson has the most support.
Simpson checks in second among quarterbacks in our prospect rankings here at CBS Sports, for example, and most mock drafts that have a second quarterback coming off the board in the first round have Simpson as that quarterback.
Simpson makes for a tough evaluation. Despite spending four years at Alabama, he was only a one-year starter, and he threw just 50 total passes during his first three seasons. Inexperienced quarterbacks have generally been considered a risky bet for NFL teams, and those risks haven’t paid off in recent years.
NFL teams keep betting on inexperienced quarterbacks — is Alabama’s Ty Simpson the exception?
Ryan Wilson
Simpson also had a season where he swung wildly between two levels of performance. In his first nine games, Simpson went 198 of 296 (66.9%) for 2,461 yards (8.3 per attempt), 21 touchdowns and just one interception. But in his final six games, he went 107 of 177 (60.5%) for 1,106 yards (6.2 per attempt), seven touchdowns and four picks.
He dealt with an injury down the stretch and was eventually knocked out of the CFP quarterfinal game against Indiana with another ailment, but the drastic split in his lone season as the starter makes it complicated to evaluate what he’ll be at the next level.
Still, Simpson is likely to be sought after when the end of April rolls around. He’s probably going to be the second quarterback off the board, and if he’s not, it surely won’t be long before he’s selected. With that in mind, we wanted to take a look at a few potential landing spots for the Alabama signal-caller come draft day.
Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 21)
The Steelers have one of the most unsettled quarterback situations in the NFL. Sure, they could bring Aaron Rodgers back for another year, but a) that doesn’t seem like all that desirable a resolution; and b) it wouldn’t solve the issue over the long term. With Simpson widely considered the second-best quarterback in the class, the Steelers could be the team to take the plunge in the back half of the first round.
Los Angeles Rams (No. 29)
The Rams’ quarterback situation is handled for at least one more year after Matthew Stafford unveiled that he will return in 2026. But there remains a question about who will be the quarterback once Stafford decides to hang up his spikes. L.A. has the benefit of allowing a quarterback to sit behind Stafford for at least a year, and Simpson seems like a quarterback who could use some seasoning, so he could be a fit. The Rams have needs on defense, especially in the secondary, but with two first-round picks in this year’s draft, they could devote one to finding the quarterback of the future.
New York Jets (No. 33)
The reason we’re specifying the draft pick here is that we want to make it clear that the Jets likely wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) be interested in selecting Simpson with the second pick in the draft. But given that they have essentially nothing at the quarterback position for either this year or the future (Justin Fields and Brady Cook are their only quarterbacks under contract), they could get interested if Simpson falls to the back half of the first round or even the top of the second, where they have the first Day 2 pick.
Arizona Cardinals (No. 34)
A similar reasoning applies to the Cardinals, who have the third pick in the first round and the second pick in the second. With Kyler Murray’s status with the team tenuous at best, the Cards don’t have their quarterback situation settled, either. They might not want to commit significant resources to the position in Mike LaFleur’s first year with the team, but if they decide that Simpson is their guy, then this selection could be where they get him.
Indianapolis Colts (No. 47)
This seems at least somewhat unlikely for two reasons. The first is that the Colts seem highly likely to retain Daniel Jones, either with a new contract or the franchise tag. The second is that Simpson is unlikely to fall into the middle of the second round. But if Jones signs elsewhere and teams collectively decide that Simpson is not worth a first-round pick, then Indianapolis could wind up in a position where it wants to devote resources to making Simpson the future.
