The New York Jets have not played a meaningful game in December since 2022.
Most years, a large portion of Jets fans spend their Decembers focused on watching the future stars of their team compete on college football’s biggest stage. And on Friday night, the Gang Green faithful enjoyed an exciting glimpse of what might be to come.
Did Jets fans just catch a glimpse of their future savior?
The ninth-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide took down the eighth-seeded Oklahoma Sooners by a score of 34-24, sending Alabama into a quarterfinal matchup with top-ranked Indiana in the Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 4 p.m. EST).
For Alabama, the star of the show was their quarterback, Ty Simpson.
The redshirt junior, in the midst of his first season as a starter after three years on the bench, completed 18 of 29 passes (with four drops) for 232 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions, earning an 80.3 QBR and an 82.9 Pro Football Focus grade for his performance in the victory. Simpson led the Crimson Tide out of a 17-0 deficit.
This is noteworthy for Jets fans, as Simpson is gaining steam as a potential target for New York in the 2026 NFL draft.
As of Dec. 19, Simpson was favored by the consensus (per NFL Mock Draft Database) to be the Jets’ selection with the fifth overall pick. December mock drafts are rarely accurate, as we recently broke down through a trip down memory lane, but with the Jets’ desperate need for a quarterback and two quarterback-needy teams ahead of them in the order, it stands to reason that Simpson, currently the consensus QB3 in 2026, could be who the Jets end up with.
It makes Friday’s performance all the more relevant for New York. Simpson is a polarizing prospect in draft circles, but in his playoff debut, he did a lot of work to improve his draft stock.
Against a Sooners defense that entered the game ranked seventh-best in the nation with 13.9 points per game allowed, Simpson did not record any turnover-worthy throws, something that has been an issue for him; he has 15 TWTs this year. He responded to questions about his deep ball with a surgical downfield display, completing all four of his deep pass attempts (20+ air yards) for 120 yards and a touchdown.
This type of deep ball success against an elite defense was a major statement for Simpson as it pertains to his NFL draft stock. His deep accuracy is one of the biggest criticisms levied against his game.
Entering Friday, Simpson had an adjusted completion percentage of just 43.4% on deep passes, ranking 71st out of 157 FBS quarterbacks. It paled in comparison to potential 2026 draft classmates Dante Moore (62.8%, 2nd) and Fernando Mendoza (55.0%, 9th). That mark rose to 47.4% after the win over Oklahoma, skyrocketing him up to a more palatable 42nd in the category.
Alabama’s victory sets up a must-watch matchup for Jets fans. On New Year’s Day, Simpson will go head-to-head against Mendoza in the Rose Bowl. Mendoza—the Heisman Trophy winner, consensus QB1, and a player very much worth tanking for if you’re the Jets—is trending toward being the first overall pick.
We’ll see in 12 days whether Simpson has anything to say about that.
