re: Class of 2016 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: Waiting On Demetris Robertson Edition

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Former Alabama quarterback Phillip Sims 'fighting to keep a dream alive'

Phillip Sims has gone from being one of the most hyped and highly rated prospects in the 2010 recruiting class to an overlooked underdog.

Rated by Rivals as the top pro-style quarterback in his recruiting class, Sims was in the mix with AJ McCarron for Alabama's starting quarterback as a redshirt freshman with the Crimson Tide in 2011. Four years and multiple schools later, Sims is an under-the-radar draft prospect coming off a strong senior season at Division II Winston-Salem State.

"I'm fighting to keep a dream alive," said Sims, whom CBS Sports rates as the 49th-best quarterback in this year's draft class.

A Chesapeake, Virginia native, Sims left Alabama prior to the 2012 season.

The primary reason, Sims said, was to be closer to home in order to help his father, who eventually underwent heart surgery.

Sims landed at Virginia and threw for 1,263 yards and nine touchdowns with just four interceptions as a redshirt sophomore after being granted a waiver to play immediately due to his father's health situation.

Sims then transferred to Winston-Salem State in 2013 after being ruled academically ineligible following his redshirt sophomore season at Virginia.

Sims was ineligible to play in 2013, but he threw for 1,560 yards and 15 touchdowns with just four interceptions as a redshirt senior this past season while helping Winston-Salem State finish 9-2, sharing playing time with another quarterback, Rudy Johnson.

"It's been a long road," Sims said. "Started off at Bama for two and a half years and made a lot of friends, played with some great players and had a great experience. Then, I transferred to Virginia, and things didn't work out academically after a year, and I was forced to leave there, and I ended up at Winston-Salem State and got a chance to finish my career out at the collegiate level not exactly the way I wanted to, but it was a road that I think prepared me for the next level."

Sims took part in the College Gridiron Showcase All-Star Game along with former Alabama teammates Nick Perry and Brandon Ivory in January.

Sims' Pro Day is next Monday.

"He had some great numbers at Winston-Salem," said Jose Jefferson, the co-founder and executive director of the College Gridiron Showcase. "The measurables are there [at 6-foot-1, 225 pounds]. And if you look at his stats, I thought he was definitely a player that would be able to come in and do some good things.

"He's got some paths with some different schools. But when you go 9-2 and lose in your conference championship game and you've got the measurables and the stats, I think that's a guy that's worth looking at, and a lot of NFL scouts agreed."

Sims was 12-of-20 for 108 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions during the College Gridiron Showcase game.

Sims also ran for 72 yards on two carries, and he looked good throwing the ball during the week of practice leading up to the game, Jefferson said.

"I ended my career at a Division II school in Winston-Salem State, which I guess is why I'm under-the-radar so much," Sims said. "I feel physically there's not a quarterback in the country that I can't match up with skill-for-skill. But coming from a smaller school, there's some hurdles that you have to fight and get over, and that's what I'm facing right now."

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