Ty Simpson receives rave reviews from performance at the Manning Passing Academy

Ty Simpson continues to trend toward being Alabama's starting QB in 2025. He'll have to hold off pushes in the fall from Austin Mack and Keelon Russell, two talented signal-callers who have no doubt used the summer to get better.

But Simpson had a lead coming out of spring practice, and nothing that has transpired this summer has changed that.

Simpson has also put the work in. He attended the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana over the weekend and drew rave reviews for his arm talent. You don't have to take my word, or the word of QB Country scout Thomas Morris. Just watch this throw:

That's an absolute dot from 55-60 yards. Of course, doing that versus a live pass rush is a totally different thing, but Simpson's arm talent was on full display over the weekend. Morris said that Simpson had "first-round" arm talent, and his arm was as impressive as any QB there. That's a field that included Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeier, and Cade Klubnik, among others.

Simpson's talent has never really been in question. He was a 5-star in the 2022 recruiting class, after all. He has patiently waited his turn in Tuscaloosa. In limited action, his ability to process, particularly when he played in relief of Tyler Buchner in 2023 at USF, was a big question mark. He looked improved in that area when he played last year, but still, his next touchdown pass will be the first of his collegiate career.

Ty Simpson's best case scenario is 2020 Mac Jones

It's pretty easy to draw comparisons between 2025 Ty Simpson and 2020 Mac Jones. Alabama fans have routinely done it because of how favorable it would be for the team's fortunes this season.

Jones' 2020 statline gets overlooked because he was throwing to DeVonta Smith, who was the best player in college football and won the Heisman Trophy. But Jones was still spectacular and put together a video game-like stat line. He completed 77% of his passes for 4500 yards, 41 touchdowns, and only four interceptions.

It's not fair to assume Simpson can replicate that stat line. But their career paths have been similar. Jones bided his time behind Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa. It was his fourth season in the program before he earned an opportunity to be the full-time starting QB, though he did start the final three games of the 2019 season following an injury to Tagovailoa.

Like Simpson, most questioned whether Jones could hold off a wunderkind. 5-star Bryce Young joined Alabama in the 2020 recruiting class and was projected by some to wrestle the job away from Jones immediately. Simpson has endured a similar narrative with 5-star Keelon Russell.

Like Young was then, Russell is seen as the future of the program. But just like Young, Russell will probably have to wait a year before that's a reality.

Simpson doesn't have to replicate the season Jones had five years ago in order to be successful. But if he can continue making throws like he did at the Manning Passing Academy, he might turn a question mark into an exclamation for Alabama at the QB position.