Content available exclusively for subscribers
Brett Kohlmann is a rising star in the media draft analysis world.
His “Bootleg Football” podcast has become huge, and he looks destined for big things in the future.
And he wonders if Alabama QB Ty Simpson has some big things in his future.
Because he’s not big.
And it’s not because of his height.
He’s 6-1. While that isn’t on the tall side for a QB, you can certainly survive and be successful in the NFL as a 6-1 QB.
Kohlmann’s concern with Simpson is related to his slender build.
“Carries a below-average build and dealt with nagging injuries in 2025,” wrote Lance Zierlein for NFL.com.
Simpson dealt with a back injury late in the season last year, which led to a stomach issue due to a bad reaction to the pain meds.
Simpson was listed at 208 pounds in college.
“It’s not like I don’t like Ty Simpson on tape,” Kohlmann told Vic Carucci and me on SiriusXM NFL Radio last Saturday. “He’s just not a very big guy. It’s not even about being tall to look over the line of scrimmage. That’s not what I’m talking about. It’s more so you are going to take hits in the NFL. When I was at the combine. Standing next to (Fernando) Mendoza and Simpson, who were right next to each other, and you look at the build of Mendoza, and you look at the build of Simpson, I had to ask myself who was going to survive getting hit by Myles Garrett. It’s not Simpson.”
Kohlmann feels Simpson’s lack of “body armor” could get him hurt on the NFL level.
“Looking at quarterbacks with that smaller stature who do survive and play for a while, they are pretty thick,” Kohlmann said.
He gave Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield as an example.
“Baker Mayfield has a lot of body armor,” Kolhmann said.
Mayfield is the same height as Simpson, but has a thick build, perhaps allowing him to take a lot of punishment on the NFL level and keep playing.
One of the things that makes Josh Allen so durable is not so much that he’s 6-4, but that he is 237 pounds.
A perfect example of a QB with a thick build that helped him withstand a lot of punishment was 240-pound Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh.
So Kolhmann’s concern with Simpson is his slender build.
“I think Ty Simpson needs to get bigger if I’m feeling comfortable throwing him out there on the field,” Kolhmann said.
So this begs the question – If the Jets pick him, at let’s say 16, or with one of their second round picks, and if they sit him for a bit, will he be able to add some body armor? Does he have the metabolism and frame to comfortably add it?
For instance, since edge-rusher Will McDonald arrived in Florham Park in 2023, there has been talk about how he’s bulked up.
He arrived at 6-4, 236.
Entering his fourth season now, he doesn’t look much bigger.
Now, that is not a criticism of him. He’s a hard worker. He just might have the frame and metabolism to comfortably play at, let’s say, 250.
So the Jets have to ask themselves if they are comfortable with a QB on the skinny side in the rough and tumble NFL.
They also have to ask themselves if he will be able to add body armor to create a thicker build to perhaps protect him from all the hits he’s going to take on the NFL level.
Because it’s like he’s a prospect coming from a low-level Division 1 program or a 1-AA squad, where they might not have had a great strength and conditioning program.
He has spent the last four years in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, playing for one of the NFL’s top programs, where everything is state-of-the-art, including the strength and nutrition programs.
Look, if the Jets like him, they might not be concerned with his size, but others, like Kohlmann, seem to be.
April 8, 2026
Premium will return by 9:30 pm (or sooner) on Thursday.
