The Rams selected Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson<\/a>, making him the heir apparent to the reigning NFL most valuable player.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just super blessed and super excited,\u201d Simpson told reporters during a videoconference. \u201cThe fact that an organization like the Los Angeles Rams believed in me, took a chance on me, it\u2019s just something that I\u2019m so grateful for.\u201d<\/p>\n With Stafford, star receivers Puka Nacua<\/a> and Davante Adams<\/a> and a defense featuring star edge rusher Jared Verse and the recently acquired cornerback Trent McDuffie<\/a>, the Rams are regarded among the favorites to play in Super Bowl LXI<\/a> at SoFi Stadium in February.<\/p>\n Rather than adding a player that could potentially help them immediately, the Rams opted to select Simpson, making him the first quarterback chosen in the first round by the Rams since 2016, when they traded up a record 14 spots to pick Jared Goff No. 1 overall.<\/p>\n If the Rams were thrilled with their choice, it was more subdued than obvious during general manager Les Snead<\/a>\u2019s and coach Sean McVay<\/a>\u2019s joint news conference. The session lacked their trademark ebullience and back-and-forth that characterized previous draft-day news conferences.<\/p>\n Rams general manager Les Snead, left, and coach Sean McVay speak to reporters after the team drafted Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night.<\/p>\n (Gary Klein \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n McVay said he spoke with Stafford before the Rams selected Simpson, and he reiterated to reporters that this was Stafford\u2019s team.<\/p>\n Stafford, 38, and the Rams are expected to work out an adjustment to his contract for this season, but whether Stafford intends to play beyond 2026 is unknown.<\/p>\n Simpson started only 15 games at Alabama, but that was enough for McVay and Snead to determine that he could be developed into an eventual starter. Last season, as a fourth-year junior, Simpson passed for 3,567 yards and 28 touchdowns while leading the Crimson Tide to an 11-4 record.<\/p>\n Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n The Rams drafted Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n McVay said that much of what Simpson was asked to do at Alabama in terms of concepts, reading defenses, drop backs, play-action and movement would translate to the Rams\u2019 scheme.<\/p>\n \u201cIt made it an easier evaluation to be able to kind of say, \u2018All right, what would that look like if you did translate it to our level,\u201d McVay said, adding, \u201cWe\u2019re always going to make decisions that we think are best for the short and the long term, but we\u2019ll be excited to able to get to work with him.\u201d<\/p>\n Snead said the perseverance Simpson displayed during his four seasons at Alabama would serve him well with the Rams. Snead cited how Simpson bounced back last season after Alabama lost its opener against Florida State.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sky was falling in the state of Alabama,\u201d said Snead, who grew up in the state and played at Auburn. \u201cBut to see probably from that point forward how they progressed as a team and him as a quarterback into the playoffs, that\u2019s just the perseverance that you have when you go through, let\u2019s call it, hard things.\u201d<\/p>\n Simpson joins a quarterback group that also includes fourth-year pro Stetson Bennett. Veteran Jimmy Garoppolo, Stafford\u2019s backup the last two seasons, is a free agent and mulling retirement, according to Snead and McVay. The selection of Simpson might preclude the Rams from making a run for Garoppolo to return.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s probably not necessary now, going this route,\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n Simpson said he met briefly with Rams scouts when he was at Alabama but had no real inclination that they would choose him.<\/p>\n He said he was \u201csuper pumped\u201d to play for McVay \u2014 \u201cHe\u2019s a quarterback genius\u201d \u2014 and to join the other quarterbacks and learn from Stafford.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s one of the greatest all-time, quarterback-wise,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cWe watched his film all the time when I was at \u2018Bama. … Stuff the Rams did and coach McVay, so the fact that I get to be in a room and soak up all that knowledge is something I couldn\u2019t ask for a better situation.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rams go into Friday with one pick in the second round and one in the third.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Rams have a roster that is Super Bowl ready. So on Thursday, with the 13th pick in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[12236,12242,12241,8,12243,12235,9,2743,12238,12233,12237,3531,12239,3950,12234,12240,7,8071],"class_list":{"0":"post-20178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-13th-pick","9":"tag-fourth-year-pro-stetson-bennett","10":"tag-free-agent-jimmy-garoppolo","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-jared-goff","13":"tag-matthew-stafford","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-nfl-draft","16":"tag-qb","17":"tag-ram","18":"tag-rams","19":"tag-record","20":"tag-roster","21":"tag-season","22":"tag-stafford","23":"tag-super-bowl","24":"tag-top-stories","25":"tag-ty-simpson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116459132964094399","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Rams](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777025236_981_.png\")
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