Ty Simpson has entered the 2026 NFL Draft. And while he made as many NFL throws as any other quarterback in the country this year, he has a major red flag that could put his status as a potential first-round pick in jeopardy.
Despite spending four years at Alabama, Ty Simpson started for just one, playing only 15 games in 2025. That number is inflated by college football’s expanded postseason, but still, with just one year of tape, he’s an outlier among recent first-round draft picks, most of whom took advantage of additional years of eligibility granted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart, last season’s two first-round QB had 57 and 41 college starts under their respective belts. Caleb Williams started 34 games between Oklahoma and USC, despite spending only three years in college. Jayden Daniels started 55 games. Drake Maye started 26, and Bo Nix set the NCAA record (which was since broken by his success at Oregon, Dillon Gabriel) with 61 starts. Michael Penix Jr. suited up for 45 games as a starting QB between Indiana and Washington.
Ty Simpson’s lack of starting experience is rare for NFL first-rounders
If he does ultimately get selected in the first-round, Simpson wouldn’t be the first quarterback to go in Round 1 after just one year as a starter. However, the track record of players that inexperienced making the jump to the NFL is far from stellar.
Since the 2011 CBA, a landmark moment in NFL history that set up the rookie pay-scale and greatly inflated the value of the rookie contract quarterbacks, five quarterbacks have been selected in the first round with just one season of starting experience:
- Cam Newton, 2011 No. 1 overall: 14 starts (Heisman, national championship)
- Mitch Trubisky, 2017 No. 2 overall: 13 starts
- Kyler Murray, 2019 No. 1 overall: 14 starts (Heisman)
- Dwayne Haskins, 2019 No. 15 overall: 14 starts
- Anthony Richardson, 2023 No. 4 overall: 13 starts
While Cam Newton won an MVP and Kyler Murray had a hot start to his career, that’s a group with three clear first-round busts and a fourth in Murray who just this season lost hist starting job in Arizona.
If you want to, you can even quibble with Newton’s reputation as a franchise quarterback in the NFL. Of course, that’s hard to do with an MVP in his trophy case and a trip to the Super Bowl in that 2015 season.
Some QB-needy NFL franchise will still likely bet on Simpson, either in the first round or on Day 2 of the draft, but the track record of one-year starters will certainly be in the back of their mind when they submit the card on draft night.