Kalen DeBoer opens up on how Alabama QB Ty Simpson has impressed him

Every time he’s been asked about it since the spring, Kalen DeBoer and his staff have been non-committal about his starting quarterback for the 2025 season, leaving the door open for a three-way battle between Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, and Keelon Russell in fall camp. However, he’s also maintained that at every checkpoint, if Alabama had a game tomorrow, Simpson would be the one taking the field. 

DeBoer reiterated that message at SEC Media Days, saying, “we did make it known at the end of spring if we played a game at that point, wouldn't have changed at this point because there's nothing that's happened as far as practicing, Ty Simpson would be the guy that would take the first snaps and be our starter.” 

As DeBoer admitted, the state of the QB battle remains unchanged, so that was far from a revelation. The second-year head coach of the Tide, however, did add some context to the situations and to his evaluation of Simpson, a redshirt junior former five-star who has attempted just 50 passes across the past three seasons at Alabama. 

Mechanics and mentality may not be enough to fend off Keelon Russell

Simpson doesn’t have much experience on the field, but heading into his fourth year of college football, it’s not surprising that he is ahead in the mental aspects of the game. Austin Mack followed DeBoer from Washington and has spent time with both the head coach and the offensive coordinator, Ryan Grubb, but has attempted just three career passes. Keelon Russell, who is likely Simpson’s biggest threat, has all the talents of a five-star, but is heading into his true freshman season. 

While that analysis of Simpson is all positive, it’s a relatively tempered optimism. Simpson doesn’t have the potentially game-breaking talent of Russell, who is a high-level athlete with an elite arm to help create outside the structure of the offense. Maybe his mechanics aren’t as crisp as Simpson’s, but his dual-threat ability and remarkable arm strength may help him close the gap in fall camp. 

Throughout this entire process, DeBoer has left the door open for Russell to steal the job from Simpson’s grasp, and his evaluation doesn’t change that fact. Russell can clean up his mechanics and improve the mental aspects of his game. Isn't changing your mentality exactly what freshman year of college is for? Simpson, on the other hand, will never become the athlete or off-platform thrower that Russell was when he first arrived in Tuscaloosa.