Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson has emerged as one of the top Heisman Trophy candidates in his first season as the starter. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
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Alabama Crimson Tide alum Damien Harris is high on his alma mater’s quarterback, Ty Simpson.
The 22-year-old junior has emerged as one of the top Heisman Trophy candidates in the nation. Simpson has 16 touchdowns against just one interception for a 172.4 passer efficiency rating. His passer efficiency rating ranks 10th in the nation and his number of touchdowns lead the SEC.
Simpson’s stellar play is a large reason why the Crimson Tide are 5-1 and ranked sixth in the nation as they enter their big-time matchup against the No. 11-ranked Tennessee Volunteers.
“Ty Simpson’s been nothing short of amazing,” says Harris in a one-on-one interview. “Even just when you look at the Week 1 game against Florida State, Ty Simpson didn’t play a bad game — there were a lot of things around him that didn’t look good. Whether it was operational, from communication, from the sideline to the huddle, whether it was handling the environment, being on the road in a hostile environment, the things around him, the defense didn’t play very well.
“Ryan Williams, he didn’t play well,” Harris continues. “Then he got knocked out. There were a lot of things that weren’t going well for Ty Simpson and he still made good decisions with the football. He wasn’t throwing it up and putting the ball in harm’s way. He wasn’t turning the football over. He used his legs whenever he needed to.”
Simpson had to win the starting quarterback job in the preseason against the Gatorade High School Player of the Year and five-star prospect Keelon Russell. He has proven head coach Kalen DeBoer’s decision to be correct as he’s emerged as one of the top players in the country in his first full season as the starting quarterback.
“He became the starter, and you saw Week 1, and now look at what he’s done every single week since then,” says Harris of Simpson. “He is a catalyst for this offense. He is the leader, he is the general. He gets people in the right position in terms of formations, or whether it’s signaling routes, if a guy is unsure, he does all the things that quarterbacks do at the next level, getting people lined up properly, communicating with signals, with even just the look of an eye, to tell a guy, ‘Hey, I need you to run this route. I think pressure is coming from this way. I need you to adjust your route a little bit.’ Ty Simpson has taken full on control of this Alabama offense. I don’t know if there’s anybody I can compare him to.”
While Harris has a difficult time comparing Simpson to any specific quarterback, he does mention a couple of Crimson Tide alums in AJ McCarron and Mac Jones.
“Ty plays a different brand of ball than most guys have, like he’s got a little bit of AJ McCarron and a little bit of Mac Jones in terms of standing in the pocket and just dissecting a defense,” says Harris. “Not calling him Jalen Milroe, but we’ve seen he can use his legs. He extends plays, allows receivers to uncover themselves and get open later in the play. He converts third downs with his legs running the football, not design-like runs, but when nobody’s open and the defense is playing man-to-man coverage, and all the defenders eyes are on their receiver instead of the quarterback.”
Harris calls Simpson’s talent level “phenomenal.” Simpson is considered one of the top-rated quarterback prospects if he opts to enter the draft next year. Although Alabama and Tennessee are only five spots apart in the rankings, the Crimson Tide are huge favorites at 12.5 points.
The former Crimson Tide running back says the key to victory for Alabama is playing their “brand” of football, which is moving the ball on offense and playing good defense.
However, he says the Volunteers “dink and dunk” a lot, which means you can wear down the defense throughout a game. He says the last thing that the Crimson Tide wants to do is give the Volunteers “confidence.”
“If you give them confidence, like we saw against Georgia, when they play Georgia, you give them confidence, they play very, very well,” says Harris. “They play an efficient style of offensive brand of football. I think the biggest key again, Alabama just doing what they’ve done, they’ve improved every single week in all aspects, especially in the run game, getting guy s like (running back) Jam Miller back, they’re more complimentary on offense. They throw the ball well. They run the ball well.”
Harris also stresses that Ryan Williams — who was one of the top freshman receivers last year — needs to start playing at an elite level or a “Jeremiah Smith” level. Williams has just 21 catches for 336 receiving yards and three touchdowns this season compared to Smith’s 40 catches for 505 yards and seven touchdowns.
“I’ve been waiting to Ryan Williams be that Jeremiah Smith level of impact player for Alabama,” says Harris. “Listen, we know he can do it, we know he’s got talent. We know he’s got the ability. We just haven’t seen that at a consistent level yet this year. I think that when that starts happening, when No. 2is the guy, then I think that separates Alabama from every other team in college football.”
Leading into the big game in Tuscaloosa, Harris is partnering with Dr. Pepper to host a special gameday event in debuting “The Pepper Portal.” The portal is a first-of-its kind fan experience connecting rival college towns this Saturday from 3:30PM to 7:30PM at Rama Jama’s in Tuscaloosa, AL and from 4:30PM to 8:30PM at Cool Bean Bar and Grill in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Harris is representing the Crimson Tide while New England Patriots backup and Volunteers alum Josh Dobbs is representing Tennessee.
“This is an incredible thing that Dr. Pepper is doing, from the Pepper Portal, and allowing fans to show up at Rama Jama’s, at Cool Bean’s, letting them show off their passion, show off their pride for their schools being face to face with one another, pouring out that passion,” says Harris. “It’s an incredible opportunity. When I think of myself working with Dr. Pepper, it’s funny. I think about all those SEC championships that I played in in Atlanta, and I think about halftime as we’re coming out, and they’re doing the Dr. Pepper toss, and they’ve got all these kids out there that are looking for scholarships, for tuitions and things like that.
“The partnership that Dr. Pepper has had with college football has been, when you see college football, you think of Dr Pepper,” Harris continues. “When you see Dr. Pepper, you think of college football. What they’re doing right now is it’s awesome. It’s a great opportunity for the fans. Most importantly, it’s understated how important the fans are to the game of football, and especially to programs like Alabama and Tennessee.”