Alabama football’s quarterback competition currently features three contenders. Of them, Ty Simpson is the youngest, entering his redshirt freshman season.

However, his relative youth hasn’t stopped him from making a run at the starting job, along with redshirt sophomores Jalen Milroe and Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner. With the time for a decision coming soon and the season set to begin Sept. 2 against Middle Tennessee State, here’s a look at Simpson’s strengths and weaknesses.

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Strengths

Simpson came to Alabama as the most highly-touted recruit of the three contenders. He was a five-star prospect and the No. 3 quarterback in the nation according to the 247Sports composite ratings coming out of Westview in Tennessee.

He led his Westview team to the state title as a senior, with over 2,900 passing yards and 44 touchdowns. He made the Elite 11 finals and was named the state’s player of the year.

The 6-foot-2, 203-pound signal-caller has the arm strength to make every throw. He’s generally accurate as well, completing four of his five passes last season.

Simpson has generally been thought of as a pocket passer. However, he has athleticism at his disposal if need be, rushing for over 1,200 yards as as senior in high school.

“He can move,” Saban said of Simpson during spring practice. “He’s a good athlete. He can make plays with his feet. I think Jalen is probably really special when it comes to that because of his speed. But Ty does it really well. He’s a good athlete. He can run. He ran the ball a lot in high school. He’s tough, and he makes pretty good decisions when he’s running the ball.”

Weaknesses

The redshirt freshman is the youngest of the three contenders. With appearances in four games last year, with just five pass attempts, Simpson simply doesn’t have the seasoning that Milroe and Buchner do.

During the spring, Saban stressed the need for Simpson to continue progressing.

“Ty’s a young guy,” Saban said. “He’s really conscientious, really trying to learn, but just needs to continue to get more and more opportunities in practice so that he can gain the confidence that he needs to be able to go out there and play.”

Simpson also isn’t as athletic as Milroe, so if Saban and company put a premium on that part of the game, he might be at a disadvantage.

Outlook

Of the three quarterbacks competing for the job at this point, Simpson is the most difficult to get a read on. He has the talent, but with just five throws to his credit at the college level, there’s a lack of information to go off of.

Given how highly touted he was as a recruit, Simpson might be the highest-ceiling quarterback on Alabama’s roster. However, the question will be whether he is ready for the step up into a full-time starter role in the SEC.

Simpson has been a popular pick for the starting role from outsiders. At SEC Media Days, SEC Network analyst and former Vanderbilt quarterback Jordan Rodgers said he would expect Simpson in the job after watching him during the Crimson Tide’s A-Day game in the spring.

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