PITTSBURGH — In a quiet moment at the NFL owners meetings last month, Rams coach Sean McVay was asked if he was open to using a high first-round draft pick to select a quarterback.
Knowing full well that the quarterback might not see the field for a year or two while Matthew Stafford closes out the final chapter of his illustrious career, McVay did not immediately dismiss the possibility.
But he also made it clear it the Rams would only do so if they were truly convinced the quarterback in question could eventually be a big-time NFL player.
Especially for the Super Bowl or bust aspirations of the Rams, who could use any sort of immediate nudge to climb back to the top of the NFL mountain.
Well, the Rams just made it abundantly clear what they think about Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, whom they selected with the 13th pick overall in the first round of Thursday’s NFL draft.
They not only believe he can be a capable replacement for Stafford, but they are also willing to surrender whatever immediate satisfaction they would have gotten by drafting a player who could have been a day one starter to wait on the delayed payoff Simpson might provide.
The draft night surprise sent shockwaves throughout the NFL, with the consensus being the Rams would add to their wide receiver room or beef up their offensive line with the first-round pick they acquired from the Falcons during last year’s draft.
Plenty of eyebrows were raised when they chose Simpson instead.
But it’s not the first time Rams general manager Les Snead has gone to the right hand when everyone assumed he would go to his left. His track record suggests the bold move has just as good a chance to work out as it does to be a wasted pick.
In the Rams’ analysis, Simpson is capable of being a franchise-caliber quarterback.
And in their heart of hearts, knowing how good they typically are, it’s a fat chance they will be in draft position to have access to that caliber of quarterback any time soon.
They didn’t earn their way to the upper half of the 2026 draft by losing a bunch of games. They shrewdly traded their way there. That provided them the rare opportunity to proactively address the most important position on the field.
The Packers did that twice over the years by drafting Aaron Rodgers well before Brett Favre was ready to move on. A decade later, they selected Jordan Love long before Rodgers was on his way out of Green Bay.
Doing so meant they never missed a beat when Favre and Rodgers eventually left town. Both Rodgers and Love were ready to take over, and the Packers just kept on rolling.
The Rams are making a similar bet on Simpson, who at times looked like the best quarterback in the country last year, only to take a step back when a stomach ailment cost him 30 pounds and a bunch of nagging injuries limited his effectiveness.
They will spend the next year or so pouring development time into him, letting him watch and learn from Stafford while soaking in the coaching of McVay and his offensive assistants.
By next year or the year after, they will hand the reins to him, much like the Packers did with Rodgers and Love, and with the confidence that he is ready to keep the train moving forward.
For all the top-end quarterback skills Simpson flashed at Alabama, there were low moments as well. Maybe it was all due to the stomach issues and injuries, or maybe opposing teams just caught up to him.
He also falls far below the recommended time on task threshold that teams typically like to see from college quarterbacks making the transition to the NFL. Simpson started just 15 games during his career at Alabama, or 10 fewer than the 25-start standard for NFL preparation and evaluation.
But he’s also the son of a college coach, a former 5-star recruit, and a football junkie. Whatever his ceiling is, he is perfectly cut out to reach it. He will also get some of the best coaching in football and learn from a quarterback whose career will end in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Rams believe in that ceiling. And in their ability to get him there. Even if it means waiting a couple of years to realize it.
But Snead and the Rams have a way of getting the last laugh.
