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Analyst Gives Major Indicator Why Ty Simpson Can Flourish With Alabama

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Brendan Howe | Last updated Jul 7, 2025 1:38 PM ET

Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide will be fielding a new quarterback this season. On3’s J.D. PicKell explained why he believes Ty Simpson can be the guy.

“Ty Simpson’s a really interesting one to break down because the sample size on him is extremely, extremely small from his playing time in Tuscaloosa,” PicKell said last week on “The Hard Count with J.D. PicKell.” “But I’m using the context clues when I set my expectations for Ty Simpson. If Ty Simpson wasn’t able to run the Kalen DeBoer/Ryan Grubb system, he would not still be in Tuscaloosa. That’s my personal feel.

Grubb rejoined DeBoer after spending a season as the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator. PicKell describes Grubb as the “Batman to Kalen DeBoer’s Batman.” The On3 analyst also stressed that Alabama’s attack will take on a different look than it had with Jalen Milroe behind center a season ago.

“The offense you saw last year under Kalen DeBoer with Jalen Milroe was not the go-to Kalen DeBoer system,” PicKell said. “It felt like you were driving stick all the time, wasn’t it? It felt like, ‘Well, when his legs are rolling, we’re awesome. When he can’t run the football, we don’t have another pitch.’”

PicKell expects Simpson to take charge of the sort of scheme DeBoer prefers to run. PicKell drove his original point home, saying, “If he didn’t have the arm talent to push it down field, if he couldn’t make his layups in the pass game, he would not still be in Tuscaloosa.”

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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