Ty Simpson has made his decision — he’ll enter the 2026 NFL Draft. The Alabama quarterback will likely become QB3 in this weak draft class, putting him in the mix to be a first round pick come April. It’s
obviously a notable development for a rival, but it’s a notable development for Tennessee as well.
Simpson had plenty of smoke surround him entering the transfer portal should he decide to stay in school. The Martin, Tennessee native was immediately connected back to Tennessee, where he was once expected to land. Simpson ultimately decided to head to Alabama with Tennessee trying to build back from the Jeremy Pruitt mess back in 2021.
Josh Heupel was spotted in Martin earlier this week, sparking rumors that the Tennessee smoke was real. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but we can officially put that to bed.
Tennessee moves on now to host Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt today. Leavitt’s options have dwindled over the past few days and Tennessee could end up being a fit for both sides. He visited LSU yesterday, but the Tigers have now been connected to Washington quarterback Demon Williams.
Of course, there’s the other part of the equation, with Tennessee waiting on a ruling on Joey Aguilar’s eligibility for 2026. Would Josh Heupel prefer Aguilar over Leavitt? That’s anyone’s guess. It may come down to the timeline of Aguilar’s case against the NCAA, which nobody seems to have a good read on.
As things stand, Tennessee has a quarterback room consisting of George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon. It’s very obvious that Heupel is going to add a veteran arm for 2026, and it may now be down to Leavitt or Aguilar.
With Leavitt on campus today, things could progress quickly.
