"First off, I feel like I'm ready. I'm a franchise quarterback," Simpson said at the scouting combine. "Alabama prepares you most for the NFL, and with the infrastructure that they had. I run an NFL-type system, and it's definitely prepared me for saying those long play calls, saying those checks, making sure that I get us in the right protection."
Simpson didn't start until his final season at Alabama, but believes the experiences he stacked up there prepared him. In his freshman year, 2022, he got to develop behind a certain Mr. Bryce Young, who went on to become the No. 1 overall pick of the Panthers. But over the next two seasons, he was behind Jalen Milroe and got to work against a parade of defensive stars every day when he was running the scout team in practice.
"Going on scout team, I got Will Anderson, Dallas Turner, Henry To'oTo'o," Simpson said. "I've got Kool-Aid (McKinstry) on one side, I've got Terrion (Arnold) on the other side. There are a number of first- and second-round draft picks that I went against and who I was in the locker room with.
"So like I said, the Alabama locker room was as close as a locker room in the NFL as you can get."