The Los Angeles Rams add their quarterback of the future, selecting Alabama's Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick.
The Los Angeles Rams have added their quarterback of the future.
The Rams have selected Alabama quatrterback Ty Simpson with the 13th pick.
Los Angeles was projected for the past handful of months to select an offensive player, and they did so by adding Matthew Stafford's successor.
Simpson will now back up Stafford for the 2026 season.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the Rams were eyeing Simpson late in the first round when they had the No. 29 overall pick. However, Los Angeles traded that pick to the Kansas City Chiefs when they traded for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie.
After being selected by Los Angeles, Simpson expressed his excitement to be paired alongside Stafford and head coach Sean McVay.
"Two of the greatest minds in offense, especially with Coach McVay and the quarterbacks from an offensive standpoint," Simpson said. "And then Matthew is just one of the greatest of all time. So I'm looking forward to it."
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter said that McVay informed Stafford that the plan was to take Simpson at 13. He now joins Stafford and veteran Stetson Bennett in the quarterback room.
Simpson was widely regarded as the second best quarterback in this year’s class.
The 23-year-old led the Crimson Tide to the College Football Playoff in his first season as a full-time starter. Prior to the 2025 season, Simpson played in a total of 12 games. His first season was solid, as he was named to the Second-team All-SEC.
Simpson was also a finalist for the Manning Award (nation's top QB, including postseason). In the season, the Tennessee native was seventh in the FBS with 305 completions (473 attempts, 64.5 percent), 10th with 3,567 passing yards (28 touchdowns, five interceptions). Simpson started in all 15 games and was named the team captain.
The former Alabama Crimson Tide now heads to Los Angeles, projected as a great fit with McVay’s offense. McVay’s system heavily relies on timing, rhythm, play-action and pre-snap read – those are all areas where Simpson has shown flashes of being comfortable, particularly in a structured setting.
Those things matter especially when he could eventually be a successor of Stafford. The Rams are not taking Simpson to be a hero now, but in posisnly a year or two.
Stafford is 38 yeadrs old and the clock is ticking on when he will hang up his cleats.
As things stand, the best case scenario is that Simpson is Jared Goff 2.0 in McVay’s system – someone who is efficent, prodctuive and capable of winning with the right supporting cast.