Thought to be a Super Bowl contender this season, the Los Angeles Rams stunned analysts and fans in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday by selecting a borderline Day 2 prospect who might compete for a backup job in 2026.
Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson was projected by many to be a second-round pick after starting just 15 games over four seasons with the Crimson Tide but instead became the surprise No. 13 selection on Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
An even bigger surprise: Rams head coach Sean McVay seemed to know very little about Simpson.
The two did not meet during the pre-draft process, and as a somewhat solemn McVay explained to reporters on Thursday in LA, Matthew Stafford is still very much entrenched as the Rams starting quarterback.
‘Let’s make one thing clear, this is Matthew’s team,’ McVay said, later adding that Simpson will ‘compete’ for the backup job with quarterback Stetson Bennett IV, a 28-year-old who has yet to throw an NFL pass.
Asked if he discussed the pick with Stafford, McVay declined, saying he would keep that conversation between the two of them.
Alabama’s Ty Simpson poses with Roger Goodell after being chosen by the Los Angeles Rams
Rams head coach Sean McVay seemed to know very little about Ty Simpson
The decision to take Simpson appeared to belong to Rams GM Les Snead (pictured)
And Stafford isn’t necessarily entering his farewell tour. According to McVay, the 38-year-old could remain under center in LA for the foreseeable future.
‘He’s gonna be able to play as long as he’s able to, whether that’s one, two more, who knows, he might be one of those guys that plays late into his 40s,’ McVay said. ‘I wouldn’t have a problem with that.’
Local media noted that McVay was far less animated on Thursday than he’s been about the team’s previous first-round picks. Meanwhile, fans became convinced that McVay was against the choice of Simpson.
‘He’s over the moon,’ one fan wrote in a sarcastic X post. ‘Never seen anyone this ecstatic about their future franchise guy.’
‘Probably wasn’t the pick McVay wanted but rather Snead and owners,’ another surmised.
‘He was way happier to [draft] Jarquez Hunter in the 4th last year,’ one fan added, referring to McVay’s reaction to one of last year’s picks.
None of this seemed to matter to Simpson, who was excited to be joining a team that was one win away from the Super Bowl last season.
‘The fact that coach Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams took a chance on me, who’s a quarterback genius, I’m super pumped,’ Simpson told reporters on zoom. ‘I can’t wait to get to L.A.’
The decision to take Simpson may have belonged to Rams GM Les Snead, who has a connection with the quarterback’s father.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Snead and Jason Simpson (right), Ty’s father and the head coach at the University of Tennessee-Martin, have been close for years
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford’s status as the team’s starter is unchanged
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Snead and Jason Simpson, Ty’s father and the head coach at the University of Tennessee-Martin, have been close for years. Snead even advised the Simpsons on Ty’s choice to declare for the draft, Breer wrote on X.
Despite looking up at Stafford on the depth chart, Simpson seemed eager to serve as the Super Bowl winner’s understudy.
‘[I admire] how cool, calm and collected he always is,’ Simpson said of Stafford. ‘He can manipulate the defense. And he’s a gunslinger, like he has no fear. As a quarterback, you have to have no fear when you’re in the huddle, and he slings that ball around and he makes other people better around him.
‘I haven’t talked to Matthew yet but I’m super pumped to be in the room with him and learn from him. He’s one of the greatest of all time. We watched his film all the time when I was with Bama, the stuff he did, the stuff the Rams did with Coach McVay, so the fact that I can soak up all that knowledge, I couldn’t ask for a better situation.’
