Ty Simpson Could Join Others Who Endured Long Wait in the Draft Green Room

When the 2026 NFL Draft begins Thursday night in Pittsburgh, 16 of the top prospects will be in attendance. Most if not all of them will be first-round draft picks, though there's no guarantee. And in the case of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, how long he ends up sitting in the green room Thursday night could become a major storyline.

There have been plenty of instances in which a top prospect, after being invited to attend the draft, has had to wait longer than expected before hearing his name called. The ones that get the most fanfare, of course, are the quarterbacks. They get all the attention when they win, and they get all the attention when they're sitting in the green room trying to look like everything is OK.

"The problem," said long-time agent Leigh Steinberg, "is the hot lights of ESPN and the NFL Network are constantly there."

Some of the notable quarterbacks whose first-round slides became green-room storylines include Aaron Rodgers, Geno Smith and Brady Quinn. Rodgers' story is the most chronicled, especially since he got the last laugh by embarking on a Hall of Fame career. But it was no laughing matter on Day 1 of the 2005 draft. Rodgers was hoping he'd be the No. 1 overall pick and play for the team he grew up rooting for, the San Francisco 49ers. But when the 49ers took Alex Smith, the slide began.

Of the six players invited to the draft that year, five were drafted among the first eight picks - leaving Rodgers alone in the green room.

"It's water torture time," said Steinberg, who has represented eight No. 1 overall draft picks. "Every second seems like a minute. Every minute seems like an hour. … Drip, drip, drip. And so it can be agonizing to be on national television."

Rodgers finally heard his name called when the Green Bay Packers used the 24th overall pick to draft him.

"The real story is he ended up in Green Bay, where he was behind (Brett) Favre, and he was with a great organization," said Steinberg. "So he ended up in great shape, but that wasn't a draft day story."

At least Rodgers went in the first round. Shedeur Sanders was in Green Bay for Day 1 of last year's draft, but he didn't stick around after that. That would've been an excruciating green-room wait, as he famously didn't get picked until Round 5.

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis was expected to be a first-round pick when he accepted his invite to the 2023 draft. He ended up being the first pick ... of the second round.

In 2013, Geno Smith was expected to be a first-round pick when he accepted the NFL's invitation to Radio City in New York. When Smith wasn't drafted on Day 1, it was initially reported that he was going home for Day 2 - which led Pro Football Talk to criticize Smith, arguing that his decision not to stay would be "confirming in the minds of many that he can't show grit and resolve under pressure."

Smith opted to stay, and the New York Jets made him the seventh pick of Round 2 (39th overall).

Brady Quinn was hoping the Cleveland Browns would take him third overall in the 2007 draft, and many insiders thought that could happen (the Browns took Joe Thomas instead, a much better choice in hindsight).

Steinberg recalled that Quinn showed up to the draft wearing a three-piece suit.

"And then as he slid, he took the jacket off. And then he took the vest off. And then he took his tie off. It was like a striptease."

The Browns did end up drafting Quinn, with the 22nd overall pick. By then, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who felt bad that the cameras were so focused on Quinn, had taken the Notre Dame quarterback and his family out of the green room and into a private room backstage.

Unlike Rodgers or Quinn, few if any draft insiders think Simpson will be a top 10 draft pick. So he'll be in the green room for at least a few hours. Some mocks have Simpson going to the New York Jets with the No. 16 pick. More mocks have him going 21st to the Pittsburgh Steelers. If the Steelers don't take him at 21, there's a chance another team might trade up into the end of Round 1 to take Simpson. Otherwise, he might find himself back in a lonely green room when Round 2 kicks off Friday night.

Is Simpson prepared for that attention? Or did he and his agent know more than we did when they accepted the NFL's invite?

"My guess is, if that's a wired-in agent, they must have pretty good intel that he's going to be picked (in the first round)," said Steinberg.

Still, there are no guarantees. Of the 16 prospects who will be in Pittsburgh Thursday night, most if not all of them have a good chance to hear their names called before Simpson, the only quarterback in the bunch. If Simpson is still there after the Steelers pick at 21, those lights will start getting warmer.

"The draft was really one of the first instances of reality television," said NBC Sports producer Fred Gaudelli, who was a long-time producer of ESPN's draft coverage, in an NFL Films special about the Rodgers saga. "And that's as real as it gets, to see a guy have his dreams crushed in front of you, in front of the entire country."

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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 4:00 AM.