Josh Weinfuss
Multiple Authors
TEMPE, Ariz. — One of the largest questions heading into the first spherical of this NFL draft is whether or not the Arizona Cardinals will draft former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson — and, if so, when.
If the Cardinals take Simpson in some unspecified time in the future Thursday or Friday, the subsequent query will develop into: Will the Cardinals will play him immediately?
That reply is simply as sophisticated as whether or not Arizona will draft Simpson.
New Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur made it clear throughout his pre-draft information convention that he’d be open to not beginning a younger quarterback immediately whereas he discovered behind veteran quarterbacks.
However, it is not as cut-and-dried as merely drafting a quarterback and sitting him.
“I mean, I think there’s something to be said about that,” LaFleur stated about sitting a quarterback for a yr. “It seems like there’s no factual statement with what I’m about to say, but the college game and the pro game are just so different. And then where did that college player play? Was the competition as high as it was at School A compared to School B?
“And, so, there’s so many elements in there. Ultimately, you are going to play the finest participant that you just suppose goes to offer you the finest probability to win, interval.”
If Simpson have been to return in and immediately be higher than each quarterbacks on the roster, Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew II, he’d possible play. But, LaFleur stated if the rookie and vets are at the identical degree, then he’d quite the rookie sit and be taught.
“If all issues are equal, then yeah, you’d quite have that veteran sort of present that man,” LaFleur said. “But, once more, if all of us imagine as a corporation that the younger man goes to offer you the finest probability throughout that 60-minute recreation to win, then you are going to throw him on the market.”
There isn’t a lot of precedent for rookie quarterbacks sitting during their first season over the last 20 seasons, and there could be two this year. The Las Vegas Raiders signed Kirk Cousins this offseason and are presumably taking Indiana’s nationwide championship-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first general decide.
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Of the 61 quarterbacks drafted in the first round since 2006, only two — Jordan Love in 2020 and J.J. McCarthy in 2024 — didn’t play of their rookie seasons, in keeping with ESPN Research. Love did not as a result of he sat behind Aaron Rodgers, and McCarthy didn’t because he was injured. However, of the other 59, only two — Brady Quinn in 2007 and Jake Locker in 2011 — didn’t start at least one game.
Of the 57 first-round quarterbacks since 2006 who started games their rookie season, seven started fewer than five — JaMarcus Russell, Johnny Manziel, Paxton Lynch, Patrick Mahomes, Anthony Richardson Sr, Michael Penix Jr. and Trey Lance.
That leaves 50 of the 61 quarterbacks who went off the board in the first round in the last 20 drafts were thrown into the mix in their first season.
Some around the league believe No. 3, where the Cardinals currently sit, is too high for Arizona to draft Simpson, who started just 15 games at Alabama. Others believe the Cardinals may trade down or back into the first round to grab Simpson, with whom Arizona has been impressed for months. A source first told ESPN in December that the Cardinals liked Simpson.
When Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort evaluates quarterbacks, he said two of the most important traits he looks for are accuracy and decision making.
Simpson’s accuracy and decision-making fluctuated last season.
His numbers dipped in the second half of the season, going from an 82 Total QBR, 21-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a 67% completion percentage in the first nine games to a 64 Total QBR, 7-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio and 60% in his last six games.
And Simpson’s six fumbles lost last season were the most by any player in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2025. He also had at least one turnover in nine of his last 11 games. Simpson took 28 sacks last season, which was tied for 115th most in FBS.
Simpson had a catchable pass percentage last season of 78.9, and 11.2% of his passes were off target. His time to target average was 2.9 seconds in 2025, which was ranked 110th.
“It’s as much as us to actually have a look at these guys and undertaking how they will translate to our league,” Ossenfort said. “And, so, yearly’s totally different, and we actually did our share of analysis on the quarterbacks on this yr’s draft.”
Simpson’s experience has been a topic leading into the draft, as well.
He began one season for Alabama, tallying simply 15 begins, which might be the fourth-fewest begins by a first-round decide in the previous 25 seasons.
“I think with that, you got to look at the reasons for that,” Ossenfort stated. “And, I think, hey, listen, there’s advantages to time on task. There is. There really is. And so I think you got to look at why. Why is there not as big of a body of work? And then ultimately you’re going to evaluate the tape.
“Some guys are going to have extra. Some guys’ tape seems to be higher than others. So, I believe that is simply one other piece of that analysis course of. So, I believe you simply bought to go together with what you’ve got. And with some guys, there’s much less and some guys there’s extra and simply determining why precisely that’s.”
But, Ossenfort said, trying to determine if a player — regardless of how many starts they have – will be a good fit for a team, for an offense and for a locker room, is an art.
“When we’re scouting free company, you are scouting apples to apples,” Ossenfort said. “And, so, you are watching guys play in opposition to NFL gamers. I believe the artwork of faculty scouting is you are taking guys from totally different ranges of competitors, coming from totally different schemes, coming from a special subject. A number of issues are totally different from school and now you are attempting to undertaking how that’s going to look, not just for our scheme, such as you’re referring to, and how Mike desires to run issues and how he desires issues to run, however now you are saying, ‘How’s that going to work in a special recreation, the school recreation to the NFL recreation?’
“So, that’s always been a challenge of college scouting. That’s why every draft pick doesn’t always pan out and that’s why there’s a challenge to that.”
