Rams predicted to land Matthew Stafford replacement in new mock draft

The Los Angeles Rams season came to a heartbreaking end when they lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship 31-27. Now, the time has come for Los Angeles to move forward and look toward making improvements to the roster 

While the most obvious place to find improvements is in special teams, Blake Brockermeyer of CBS Sports has predicted that the Rams will go a different route with their 13th overall pick and try to find quarterback Matthew Stafford's successor.

This may come as a surprise since Stafford is playing the best football of his career, leading the NFL with 4,707 passing yards, 46 passing touchdowns, and 236 passing first downs on 388 completed passes.

This excellent play means Stafford has been named to the Pro Bowl, a first-team NFL All-Pro, and is highly considered the favorite to win NFL MVP.

Still, Stafford is 37 years old, and his contract with the Rams ends after the 2026 NFL Season. Los Angeles needs to find a replacement soon, and Brockermeyer thinks that answer is Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson.

"Ty Simpson could benefit from a weak quarterback class and has promising traits," Brockermeyer said. "He may have the most upside in the group despite struggling in the second half of the season behind limited protection and run support. He has a strong arm, can hit every area of the field with velocity and touch and processes quickly with strong anticipation. Experience will be his biggest hurdle."

Despite having a weaker second half of the season, Simpson still has some impressive stats. He led the SEC with 477 passing attempts and 305 completions while also recording 3,567 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns, and only 5 interceptions across 15 games. 

However, as Brockermeyer pointed out, Simpson is young. He finished his time with the Crimson Tide as a junior and is only 23 years old. If the Rams bring him on, they will likely put him behind Stafford for the 2026 NFL season to learn instead of getting him on the field.

While this would be an interesting move, it is not the Rams' most significant need. Instead, they need to focus on special teams and even improving their already solid secondary. Brockermeyer believes Los Angeles will do that with their other first-round pick and select South Carolina cornerback Brandon Cisse.

"Brandon Cisse is a sticky corner with good hips and change-of-direction," Brockermeyer said. "He pattern-matches well, contests throws with strong hands, and has the recovery ability when slightly beaten. He should look even better behind the Rams' pass rush."

Cisse ended this season with 27 combined tackles (19 solo), five passes deflected, 1.5 tackles for loss, one interception, and one forced fumble across 12 games.

All that being said, the Rams have plenty of options in the 2026 NFL Draft class to rebuild and come back even stronger next season.