The Alabama Crimson Tide’s season came to a close on New Year’s Day with an embarrassing defeat against the Indiana Hoosiers, and now attention turns to who stays and who enters the transfer portal.

The transfer portal is now taking just as much — if not more — than the regular revolving door of SEC stars to the NFL Draft. As for Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, he has a decision to make coming off Alabama’s roller coaster season, and Simpson’s first year starting for the Crimson Tide.

For large parts of the first half of the year, Simpson looked like a surefire first-round draft selection as Alabama’s offense was carving up opponents and he was leading the charge.

But over the second half, the wheels fell off for the unit, and Simpson’s play suffered as the offensive line and running game simply disappeared.

Now, the signal-caller who stayed in Tuscaloosa through three turbulent seasons of riding the bench faces a very tough call. For Simpson, the choice seemingly comes down to taking his chances with the NFL or returning to Alabama.

A report from recruiting insider Tom Loy of 247 Sports revealed he could consider the portal as well, which would instantly make him one of the most coveted — and in turn, highest-paid — players to change programs.

Loy mentioned Oregon and Simpson’s native Tennessee as potential transfer destinations, but according to Nick Kelly of AL(dot)com, transferring elsewhere remains the least likely of the three possible options.

Kelly added that Simpson had discussions with head coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb over the weekend, and will meet with NFL evaluators early this week to give more insight into his thoughts. A decision is expected by the end of the week.

The deadline for Simpson to make a draft decision is Wednesday, January 14 and the portal is only open until January 16. The outcome with Simpson could impact choices for the rest of Alabama’s quarterback room, including Austin Mack and Keelon Russell.

Russell — a former consensus five-star recruit — has been fairly adamant about staying when asked, while Mack has been a bit more non-committal. Regardless of the potential outcomes, it should be an interesting next several days in Tuscaloosa.