What Alabama's Defenders Have Seen from Ty Simpson: 'I’m Blessed to Have Him as My Quarterback'

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama fans and media alike are eager to see what Ty Simpson will bring on the football when he makes his first collegiate start on Aug. 30 at Florida State. Over his three seasons with the Crimson Tide, Simpson has had limited in-game opportunities to display his talents to the world, but there is a group of people that are very familiar with Simpson's skillset.

Because he's entering his fourth year in the program, some Alabama defenders, like Tim Keenan III and Deontae Lawson, have gotten to go against Simpson in practice for four different offseasons.

"Ty was already my guy, to be honest," Lawson said. "Just seeing him come to work every day. He’s getting way more comfortable in his leadership and being able to manage the team and win over the team is just a pleasure to see. He just waited his turn, and I love to see that. He’s so resilient. I can’t wait to see him shine.”

Keenan said Simpson has done a great job stepping into the role to win the job. Simpson is an unusual case in this era of college football. He was a five-star recruit and has stayed at the same school for three straight seasons as a backup even when he had opportunities to transfer, which has earned the respect of his teammates.

"For him to wait his turn, putting his faith in God knowing that when it’s my time, I’m going to do what I need to do with it," Keenan said of Simpson. "That’s just what y’all are seeing— a guy who’s going to see it through, do what he needs to do and work his way into a job."

Simpson is known as being a pro-style quarterback, but Keenan described the redshirt junior as having "a little wiggle to him" when escaping the pocket.

"He ain’t made me touch no grass or nothing like that, but he’s disappeared on me a few times," Keenan shared. "Ty, he be back there moving around.”

Sophomore defensive back Zabien Brown said Simpson is the type of player and leader that makes his teammates want to play harder for.

"I’m blessed to have him as my quarterback," Brown said. "He’s super smart on the field. When we’re out there, like I said earlier, it’s a chess match. He’s looking at us. We’re watching him. It’s a good back and forth.

"Ty’s a pro-style quarterback. He reads the whole defense. He sees what’s going on and having a guy like that really helps us out. It’s a high-level of competition at practice. If we show our coverage too early, if we’re not disguising right, he’s checking out every play. He’s making his alerts. Going against that really makes us sharper.”

In two weeks, Simpson will be facing the Seminole defense, but until then, he will be going up against his Alabama teammates as the offense and defense work to sharpen each other heading into the 2025 season.