Greg McElroy reacts to Alabama naming Ty Simpson the starting QB

Ty Simpson joined a prolific group of college football players this week when it was announced that he will head into the 2025 season as Alabama‘s starting quarterback. He succeeds Jalen Milroe, who was the Crimson Tide’s starter for the past two seasons.

Another member of this group, Greg McElroy, went into detail on the process of Simpson being named the starting quarterback on the latest edition of the “Always College Football” podcast.

“Ty Simpson is the quarterback of the Crimson Tide,” McElroy said. “I told you on Monday that this was probably going to be coming. I thought they may wait until after the second scrimmage this upcoming Saturday, but they felt it was best after Saturday’s scrimmage last week (one that I was in attendance for) felt like it was the best time to name their guy. Now this is big, because Ty Simpson is a guy that has for a long time been right there. He’s been right there so close, but it was just the littlest gap between him and the guy ahead of him.”

Simpson has been a staple of the program for three seasons, but waited his turn and it has now paid off. He has played in just 16 games over three seasons, where he’s completed 29 of his 50 passes for 381 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He was a five-star recruit (ranked No. 25 overall in his class) coming out of Westview (Martin, TN) in 2022 and is now the main-man in Tuscaloosa

McElroy highlights Simpson’s rushing ability

“Two years ago when they went into this competition, it was very, very close in the spring and then Jalen Milroe distanced himself a bit in fall camp. This was his time. This was his opportunity and he seized control. What I love about watching this young man is that he has a plan. Every time the ball is snapped, he has a plan. That hasn’t always been the case at Alabama the last couple of years. It felt like sometimes Jalen would snap the ball and run around and make an incredible play, but Ty has to approach the game very differently. He has a plan on every snap based on how the defense lines up and what the offensive look is. Where the ball is, he’s going to start there.”

“And he’s also a guy that is very underrated from a mobility standpoint. Now he’s not a guy that’s not going to rush for 1,000 yards this year, but he can absolutely keep drives alive on 3rd & 6 and 3rd & 7 with a scramble. I think this is a great move for Alabama because this will give tremendous confidence to Ty Simpson as well. He can no longer worry about what’s going on behind him on the depth chart.”

“He’s gonna be able to solely focus on improving and preparing to take that first snap against the Florida State Seminoles. Great move by Alabama doing it now locking it in.”

As McElroy stated, Alabama opens its regular season on Aug. 30 at Florida State. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:30 PM on ABC.