Two years ago, Ty Simpson tweeted “Blessed to receive and offer from Notre Dame! #GoIrish @CoachBrianKelly @T_Rees11.”

Back in January 2021, nobody had an idea that Brian Kelly would bolt for LSU and that eventually, Tommy Rees would bolt for Alabama. We did, however, have reason to suspect that Simpson could possibly commit to the Tide. Never mind the fact that he was a Tennessee native. Simpson’s commitment in February 2021 was in the wake of the messy Jeremy Pruitt divorce.

Alabama, meanwhile, was fresh off an unbeaten national championship with Mac Jones, who became the 3rd consecutive superstar quarterback to play the position in Tuscaloosa. Of course, Bryce Young since became the 4th consecutive superstar quarterback. Bill O’Brien also became the 5th consecutive Alabama offensive play-caller to lead a top-15 offense in the Playoff era, though some Tide fans would tell you that felt more like a messy divorce than a loving marriage.

Two years after Simpson tweeted about that Notre Dame offer, he has an opportunity he couldn’t have predicted. That is, to be Alabama’s next superstar quarterback with Rees in his ear.

It’s Simpson — not Jalen Milroe — who has an inside track to become the Tide’s next QB1. Rees’ addition only helped that cause.

Yes, part of that is because Rees recruited Simpson and not Milroe. We know that there’s intrigue in Simpson’s skill set. We know that Rees has typically valued mobile, true dual-threat quarterbacks. While it was Milroe who was tabbed as a dual-threat recruit and not Simpson, I’d argue the latter has more potential of using both parts of his game.

Don’t get it twisted. Milroe would probably be a better runner than Simpson if given the opportunity. We’ve already seen the guy run away from SEC defenses:

It’s hard to see a game-breaking play like that and not be intrigued by Milroe’s skill set, especially when we just saw Alabama receivers atypically struggle to get separation. There’s no denying that we could get more moments like that from Milroe if he were to win the job.

But this is about being able to execute all facets of the offense. Simpson can do that. He was a 1,200-yard rusher as a senior in high school and he earned Matt Corral comps as a 5-star recruit. There’s no doubt that Simpson can take off and move the chains in the SEC.

Sure, Rees might be tasked with getting Alabama back to a bit more of a smash-mouth approach. That doesn’t mean the Tide will suddenly abandon the downfield passing game. With Milroe, I question that part of his game. At least at this stage of his career. In his lone start, we watched a young A&M defensive line force 3 strip sacks. Had the Tide lost at home to a bowl-less A&M team, Milroe’s miscues would’ve been largely to blame.

That aforementioned play against Arkansas might’ve generated more pro-Milroe buzz, but in the second half of that game, he was 1-for-4 for 3 yards as a passer. Mind you, that was in a game that actually got within 1 score in the 4th quarter and it was against an Arkansas team with issues galore defending the pass. Clearly, there was a lack of trust with Milroe throwing the ball in key situations, which as we saw the following week against A&M, was somewhat justified. In that game, the Tide finished with 51 rushing attempts compared to 19 pass attempts that went for an inefficient 5.8 yards per attempt.

I bring that up because if your argument for why Milroe has an inside track to be the starting quarterback is based on that limited sample size, I don’t think that case is particularly strong. It doesn’t mean Milroe is incapable of making significant strides and impressing Rees enough to win the job, but this isn’t really like when Mac Jones gave himself a clear leg up for the 2020 job by playing at a high level while filling in for an injured Tua Tagovailoa in 2019.

While Simpson looked like someone who also had room for improvement with his pocket presence, there’s still plenty for Rees to work with. The accuracy, the ability to successfully scramble in order to throw, the touch … it’s all there. Obviously, it hasn’t been there in any meaningful reps outside of a spring game.

With Milroe more physically ready to be Young’s backup in 2022, a 4-game redshirt for Simpson was inevitable. That all changes in Year 2, especially with a new play-caller and new terminology.

If Rees’ mindset is to show what he can do with more talent than he had at Notre Dame — something he’ll have at Alabama as long as Nick Saban is there — what better way to do that then by making the former 5-star your first QB1.

Don’t confuse that as me saying Alabama will decide a quarterback based on recruiting rankings. That’s not the case.

Also don’t confuse Notre Dame’s 26 pass attempts per game (No. 117 in FBS) as a sign that the Tide are completely reverting back to their pre-Lane Kiffin days offensively. That’s not the case, either. Rees had Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner as his quarterbacks, and outside of All-American tight end Michael Mayer, the Irish’s next leading receiver averaged 27.8 yards and 1.9 catches per game. The strength was the ground game.

The unofficial goal for Rees and his first Alabama offense will be to become the first group under Saban to rank in the top 20 nationally both in rushing and passing. The irony is that this past season was Alabama’s first time finishing in the top 30 in both rushing yards/game and passing yards/game. The problem, of course, was that the Tide ranked No. 82 in rushing attempts/game amidst a 2-loss regular season that saw 5 games decided in the final minute. Hence, why O’Brien didn’t really have anything close to a positive approval rating despite leading a pair of top-6 scoring offenses.

Time will tell if Rees will, as well. His first priority is evaluating his quarterback room. He’s got more talent than ever to work with, but he’s also got more pressure than ever. You don’t leave your alma mater for the same position unless you’re aware of both of those things. It wouldn’t be surprising if calling plays for Simpson was a major selling point.

What else wouldn’t be surprising? If Rees offered Simpson a chance to be the next great Alabama quarterback.