Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson isn’t the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, but Joel Klatt is wondering if we should be considering the 22-year-old as the man in pole position to win college football‘s most prestigious individual award.
“If Ty Simpson’s name was Ty Manning, we would cancel the end of the season Heisman Trophy ceremony and just do it now,” Klatt said on “The Next Round.” “That’s the best pure passing game in college football. Simpson has been the best quarterback in college football from a passing perspective.”
Simpson is among the favorites to win the Heisman. He holds the third-best odds (+700) at DraftKings Sportsbook, trailing Miami (Fla.) quarterback Carson Beck (+650) and Oregon quarterback Dante Moore (+600). Statistically, though, Simpson has been superior to both of them. He has thrown for more passing yards per game (295.6) than Moore (242) and Beck (242.6) through Week 6. Moore (14) has one more touchdown pass than Simpson (13), while Beck has 11, but Simpson has a superior yards per attempt mark (9.4) over Moore and Beck.
Beyond the statistics, Simpson has also passed the eye test on film, according to Klatt.
“Simpson’s incredible,” Klatt said. “I get to buzz through other tapes, but I really study the two teams that I’m going to do, and Wisconsin just so happened to have Alabama on their schedule. So, last week, when I’m preparing for Wisconsin, I’m really diving in to the Alabama film when they played Wisconsin. And, there were like five times where I paused the film. I was like, ‘Whoa. Like, that was a big league, top-three draft pick throw.’ It’s really good.”
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To Klatt’s point, Simpson isn’t dinking and dunking his way to success. He’s among Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded quarterbacks for intermediate (10-19 air yards) and deep (20-plus air yards) throws. In fact, Simpson’s 525 yards on intermediate throws are the fifth-most in the FBS and the most in the SEC, per PFF. His five touchdown passes on intermediate throws are also tied for the most among SEC quarterbacks.
Simpson’s emergence as one of college football’s top passers has also translated into success for Alabama following its disastrous Week 1 showing at Florida State. Alabama has won four straight since then, including giving Georgia its first home loss since 2019 in Week 5 before defeating then-No. 16 Vanderbilt on Saturday. Simpson threw for 276 yards and had three total touchdowns against Georgia, while he threw for 340 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against Vandy.
Ty Simpson was a part of all three of Alabama’s touchdowns in its upset win over Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Of course, Simpson has got some of the nation’s most talented receivers around him, but what has really impressed Klatt about the first-year starter is how he has been able to elevate the Crimson Tide despite their deficiencies in some areas. Klatt even went as far as to say that Simpson has raised the ceiling for Alabama.
“If they can just get competent running the football — which I felt they were last week, they took some strides — they don’t need to be great running the football,” Klatt said. “But you don’t want to be [the] Washington of a few years ago, where once they got running back hurt, they really couldn’t run it. Then, all of a sudden, you run into a great pass rush and you’re stuck. That’s the fear for me for Alabama. If you don’t protect him, it turns into Florida State.
“So, you gotta protect him with quality offensive line play and at least a competent run game to keep the defense honest. If they can do that, then I think Alabama might win the SEC.”
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