{"id":120352,"date":"2026-02-22T07:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T07:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/120352\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T07:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T07:10:07","slug":"steelers-get-big-news-on-potential-first-round-quarterback-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/120352\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers Get Big News on Potential First-Round Quarterback Target"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026 NFL Draft<\/a>\u2022NFL Combine<\/a>\u2022Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"NCAACredit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one quarterback that the Pittsburgh Steelers could realistically be considering in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a>, and they\u2019re going to get a close look at him this week. Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson<\/a>, who did not participate in a collegiate all-star game after dealing with an injury in the second half of his college season, will throw at the 2026 NFL Combine<\/a> next week in Indianapolis, according to a report by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.<\/p>\n

Simpson will be the top quarterback prospect throwing at the combine at Lucas Oil Stadium, as Indiana quarterback and presumptive No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza<\/a> will skip throwing at the combine in favor of his on-campus pro day in Bloomington, Indiana.<\/p>\n

While Mendoza\u2019s draft stock appears to be a lock, Simpson\u2019s has been much more variable. Simpson was ranked as high as the No. 3 prospect in the NFL Mock Draft Database<\/a> consensus big board during the season, his first as Alabama\u2019s starter. But since then, he\u2019s steadily fallen to his current standing of No. 30.<\/p>\n

He suffered a cracked rib in Alabama\u2019s College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Indiana on Jan. 1, but that was far from the extent of his injury issues in his the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

He had a lower back injury that began when taking a hit against South Carolina on Oct. 25 and persisted throughout the season, getting worse as the hits piled up with Alabama\u2019s offensive line having an uncharacteristic amount of struggle this year.<\/p>\n

The pain medication he was taking for his lower back injury caused a late-season case of gastritis, which reportedly<\/a> caused him to lose eight pounds. He then dealt with elbow bursitis, causing him to wear an elbow sleeve in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia.<\/p>\n

The Steelers repeatedly scouted Simpson<\/a> and the Crimson Tide over the course of the season, scouting Simpson in the Iron Bowl against Auburn, sending two scouts to the Crimson Tide\u2019s Week 9 game against South Carolina and also watching Alabama play Missouri and Florida State early in the season.<\/p>\n

The Steelers have a big need at quarterback, with no obvious successor to 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers on the roster, that Simpson \u2014 and probably only Simpson \u2014 could fill that need. The next-highest-rated quarterback in the class is No. 73 overall prospect Garrett Nussmeier, not considered a prime starter candidate.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> NFL Combine<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> Ty Simpson<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Draft\u2022NFL Combine\u2022Steelers News Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images There\u2019s one quarterback that the Pittsburgh Steelers could realistically…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[31803,56874,73,75,74,1833,1829,56875],"class_list":{"0":"post-120352","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-nfl-combine","10":"tag-pittsburgh","11":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","12":"tag-pittsburgh-news","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","14":"tag-steelers","15":"tag-ty-simpson"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}