Alabama is stepping into unfamiliar territory. The Nick Saban era is in the rearview, and with a 9-4 debut season under Kalen DeBoer, the Tide are still searching for stability. No Bryce Young, no Jalen Milroe, and no Caleb Downs to lean on this time. It’s Year two of the Kalen DeBoer era. New system. New standard. And, for now, a new QB1. His name? Ty Simpson (Unofficially). Coming off a 9–4 debut season that showed promise but left plenty of questions, DeBoer’s most important year is officially riding on a guy who has completed just 29 career passes.

Ty Simpson, the former five-star QB out of Martin, Tennessee, has waited his turn. He waited behind a Heisman winner in Bryce Young. Waited some more behind the electric (but often erratic) Jalen Milroe. And now, finally, it’s his team. Sort of. DeBoer and returning OC Ryan Grubb have dropped more than a few breadcrumbs that Simpson is their guy, even though blue-chip freshman Keelon Russell is gunning for the job. Simpson exited spring as the presumed starter, and yet? Folks still don’t know what to make of him. The fine line between Natty-run and winning season (Which is a failure by Bama’s standard).

Enter SEC Mike and Cousin Shane. On the July 6 episode of That SEC Football Podcast, the duo dropped their SEC QB rankings. SEC Mike ranked Simpson as the 10th-best QB in the conference. “Give me Ty Simpson, Alabama,” he said, sounding more like he was reading tea leaves than stat sheets. “Don’t know if he’s going to be the starting quarterback for all 16. They’re bringing in the five-star Keen Russell. He could be the guy. But when they exit spring and say, ‘Yeah, this—he’d be the starter if we started today,’ that tells me he’s kind of light years ahead of the other quarterbacks.”

That “kind of light years” line? It’s either wild optimism or a coach’s poker face. Simpson has thrown just 50 passes in his entire Bama career. His most notable moment? A gritty cameo against South Florida in 2023 where he went 5-of-9 for 73 yards, plus 29 on the ground and a score. Not eye-popping. But serviceable. And in Alabama’s past, was sometimes enough.

Cousin Shane doubled down on the idea of Alabama returning to its roots—game managers over gunslingers. He likened Simpson to Greg McElroy, the unflashy brainiac who helped Alabama win it all in 2009: “This almost feels like old-school Alabama, you know? Good def—really good defense. And it’s like McElroy or something, you know? You know what I’m saying? Like, nobody was couldn’t wait to see him in the NFL, but he turned out to be a really good quarterback.” He’s not wrong.

Even Paul Finebaum, never shy about a bold take, gave Simpson a subtle nod. “Is he capable? Yes,” Finebaum said. “I’ve seen a couple of quarterbacks, probably below him on the talent level, who led Alabama to a national championship.” Translation? He might not be Caleb Williams, but that’s never been a requirement in Tuscaloosa.

Cousin Shane summed it best: “You know, this is what happened at Alabama. You wait a few years, you get your shot, you win titles. And I feel like this is setting, again, a precedent of what can maybe be maintained down there.” That line taps into Alabama’s old-school QB model, where guys like McElroy, McCarron, and Mac Jones waited their turn, then delivered when it mattered. Mac Jones sat behind Hurts and Tua for 3 years before leading Bama to a national title in 2020. Now Ty Simpson is walking that same path. In today’s transfer-heavy game, that kind of patience is rare, but it’s a formula Alabama knows well.

Simpson’s story checks the boxes of a classic Alabama arc: bench time, low reps, high expectations. But with a tougher schedule and an SEC landscape more chaotic than ever, the margin for error is razor-thin. There’s a new standard now, especially in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. And ESPN? They’re already ringing the alarm.

ESPN Insider says Greg Sankey would lose his mind if Bama misses the playoff again

Bama missing the College Football Playoff once? Eh, rare. Twice? Somebody’s flipping tables. And according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich and Paul Finebaum, that “somebody” just might be SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. On a recent episode of ESPN’s “Get Up,” Finebaum set the tone with a blunt message when asked about expectation: “Making the College Football Playoff,” he said flatly. “That’s what Alabama needs to do. Period.” It wasn’t a debate…It wasn’t wishful thinking. It was a mandate. He praised DeBoer’s recruiting, even going as far as to say it’s “very close” to what Nick Saban accomplished at times. But he followed it up with this: “If he doesn’t make the Playoffs, the pressure will intensify.”

Dinich wasn’t pulling punches either. Her warning had SEC-wide implications: “If Alabama doesn’t make the Playoff, Greg Sankey is going to lose his mind,” she said. Harsh? Maybe. But there’s context. Last season, Alabama finished 9-3 in the regular season. They were the highest-ranked three-loss team in the final Playoff committee rankings—and got snubbed.

Why? According to Dinich, it was simple math: “They had to make room for another conference champion.” It’s a brutal pill for the SEC to swallow. In the expanded playoff, missing the cut again—especially with a three-loss record—could hint at a systemic shift in power. For decades, the SEC got the benefit of the doubt. Now? They’re fighting for scraps just like everybody else. With the SEC fielding deeper talent, tougher non-conference schedules, and Playoff narratives shaping in real time, there’s no room for another 9-4 season. Especially when your QB1 has fewer game reps than your kicker.