Ty Simpson wants to show he's franchise QB at NFL combine - ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS — Former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson said Friday at the NFL combine that he is prepared to show NFL talent evaluators that he is a «franchise quarterback.''

Simpson is the No. 25 player overall on ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr.'s Big Board and the No. 2 quarterback behind Indiana's Fernando Mendoza (the No. 1 player overall). Simpson was asked at the combine Friday about his readiness to be an NFL starter. He said he has conveyed his confidence in his abilities to team personnel during the sit-down interviews in Indianapolis.

»First off, I think I'm ready, I'm a franchise quarterback,'' Simpson said. «Alabama prepares you the most for the NFL… The Alabama locker room is as close to an NFL locker room as you can get.''

Simpson said he is healthy after battling some nagging injuries down the stretch this past season, including to his lower back and elbow as well as a fractured rib. He plans to throw Saturday during the on-field workout for quarterbacks. Mendoza is not expected to throw Saturday, so Simpson will be Kiper's highest-ranked quarterback to participate in the combine workout.

»It's why I decided to throw and why I'm excited about it,'' Simpson said of his health.

He also addressed his significant weight loss toward the end of the season — he went from about 210 pounds to just over 190 pounds due to what some in the league have said was a case of gastritis — and outlined his pre-combine regimen to be prepared for the combine and the draft.

«Lot of eating, lot of three meals, four meals a day,'' Simpson said of his combine prep. „Lot of shakes, just getting in a routine of getting up in the morning, eating, drinking chocolate milk, eating lunch, eating the right meal, adding a shake to that, dinner, eating,