Ryan Grubb’s explanation for why Ty Simpson won Alabama’s starting quarterback job will fire up fans
On Tuesday, Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb explained why Ty Simpson was named the team’s starting quarterback.
Alabama officially named Ty Simpson as its starting quarterback for the 2025 season on Monday night. The redshirt junior had been trending in that direction for pretty much the entire offseason, but it now being official allows the team to rally around him leading up to the season opener against Florida State on Aug. 30.
After Tuesday’s practice, new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was made available to the media, where he was immediately asked what Simpson had done to finally earn that starting nod. His answer wasn’t surprising, but at the same time, it was revealing for what finally get the former five-star recruit over the top.
“Ty did a really nice job of taking care of the football, number one,” Grubb told reporters. “I think Ty is an incredible playmaker on the move, and I think from there, guys like that, you worry are they going to be able to train themselves to be able to take care of the football. And even the room in general, Ty led that charge.
“But Ty didn’t throw any picks last week. He’s thrown one all camp. We’ve thrown like four total this camp, and this spring, at this time, we had thrown like 15. So I think in general, the guys are understanding the concepts and are controlling the offense a lot better as room, and Ty was the best at that. And so, his ability to command and create out of the pocket, I thought was the best. He made great decisions. Yeah, he’s just much cleaner on some of the things you’d expect an older quarterback to be able to do.”
Let’s go over some of those elements.
First of all, limiting turnovers is a critical factor. It always has been. Sure, making a lot of plays helps, but if you’re doing things that gets your team beat, it doesn’t really matter what you bring to the table that helps your team win. So avoiding turnovers has to be where it starts, but there’s also a playmaking element to the Kalen DeBoer-Ryan Grubb offense. Simpson brings that ability, whether that be distributing from the pocket or creating out of structure — both in the run and passing games.
Another element that’s critical to this Alabama offense is being able to push the ball downfield. That’s always been a staple, especially when Michael Penix Jr. was leading Washington’s offense under DeBoer and Grubb. On Tuesday, Grubb was asked about Simpson’s ability to get vertical in the pass game and whether they’ve been able to maintain that element while protecting the football.
“We are, absolutely,” Grubb responded. “We had six practices in a row where he hit our explosive number. So we’ve certainly been able to get the ball downfield, which is great because I think our defense does a great job of trying to limit those. I don’t know if we had five days of that all of spring, so six in a row, I think eight out of 10 practices, we were rolling a little bit.”
Folks, that’s big time. Alabama’s defense is expected to be one of the best in the country in 2025, and with a veteran group in the secondary, being able to consistently execute explosive plays means this offense has a chance to be lethal. The playmakers at wide receiver are there, and it sounds like Simpson has the ability to take advantage of those guys.
