Holding the 21st overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t have many options at quarterback. Fernando Mendoza won’t make it past the first pick, and while Ty Simpson is the second-best quarterback in the class, he’s also very unproven. To The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo, his lack of experience could push the Steelers to pass on him at the 21st pick.
“This [QB] crop that, a year ago, looked like it was gonna be really strong, and the Steelers were going to have several first-round options, has basically completely collapsed,” DeFabo said Tuesday on his Yinziders podcast. “Ty Simpson, because of his only 15 college starts, I think that’s gonna be a non-starter for the Steelers. And they’re gonna be really deterred by lack that lack of experience.”
Simpson looked really promising to begin the 2025 season. He played well in big Alabama wins against Georgia, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Tennessee. His stock was up, and in his first year as a starter Simpson was really starting to prove himself.
He wasn’t bad as the year went on, but those good performances started to fade. In mid-November, Alabama lost to Oklahoma despite Simpson throwing for over 300 yards. The following week the Crimson Tide dominated Eastern Illinois, but Simpson threw two picks, no touchdowns and managed just 3.56 adjusted yards per attempt. Simpson really struggled a couple of weeks later in a loss to Georgia in the conference championship game and left Alabama’s playoff loss against Indiana early with an injury a couple of weeks later.
Ty Simpson was banged up throughout the latter half of the season, including some of those good performances. But it’s just going to be hard for teams to overlook his lack of experience, especially the Steelers. Simpson very well could develop into a good NFL quarterback, but he’s going to need many more snaps under his belt to do so.
The Steelers, who never want to risk a losing season, will be cautious about that. DeFabo mentioned another quarterback in whom they’d have more interest in Carson Beck, who has significantly more starting experience. Knowing that any quarterback they draft will be at least a little bit of a project, taking one with more experience does make sense.
Some have floated Simpson learning behind Aaron Rodgers for a year, if the latter returns. That certainly could help his career. But at the end of the day, Simpson needs reps, and that’s not going to happen in 2026 if Rodgers comes back. Pittsburgh also has Will Howard, whom the staff and the front office are very high on.
With 12 picks, the Steelers are probably going to use one on a quarterback. But at 21, DeFabo thinks Ty Simpson is probably too unproven for them to pull the trigger on him.
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