With the 2026 NFL Draft one month away, front offices are finalizing their draft boards and completing their evaluations of all of their draft prospect options. The last few steps in the pre-draft process includes respective schools’ Pro Days and Top 30 visits to NFL teams’ facilities.
This week, Ohio State’s Pro Day stole the show due to the incredible amount of talent on display. On the same day, the No. 2 quarterback prospect in the draft held his Pro Day at Alabama, with only one NFL general manager showing up.
Ty Simpson did his best to show why he should be considered on par with Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who’s locked in as the No. 1 overall pick for the Las Vegas Raiders. There seems to be only one draft analyst who believes Simpson is actually better than Mendoza: ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky.
Ty Simpson calls himself a “program-changing” player for any NFL franchise
It seems as if Simpson has used Orlovsky’s praise of him to ooze confidence as the draft nears. Following his workout at Alabama’s Pro Day, Simspon spoke with reporters and dropped a confidence-filled statement for why NFL teams should “absolutely” draft him in the first round.
I know what I’m capable of, and I know whoever gets me is going to get a good player and a guy who loves football and a guy who loves the team and loves being a part of something bigger than himself… When I go into a program, I’m program-changing. I don’t just make myself better, I make other people better. If you draft me, and you want me to be your franchise quarterback, I’m not just coming in to look after myself. I’m looking after the whole team and making sure I leave it better than I left it.
Ty Simpson’s physical and mental makeup is very enticing for NFL franchises, but his lack of starting experience has many teams wary of spending such a high pick on him. But for quarterback-needy teams, Simpson may be a proposition worth taking the risk for in the middle-to-late picks of the first round.
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