Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay broke down the thoughts and process behind taking Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson
The NFL world might still be in shock due to the Los Angeles Rams drafting Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the No. 13 overall pick. Simpson was slated to be a late first-round or second-round selection, but the Rams jumped in to take the potential successor to Matthew Stafford.
Following the pick, general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay broke down how the decision came to be.
When asked about how the decision to take Simpson came to be, Snead indicated that it was his ability to guide an offense.
"I think that at the end of the day probably processing football, someone who can execute a passing offense, has mobility. So that's probably the macro. There's a lot more variables that go into it, but that's the macro I would say," Snead said while McVay nodded in agreement.
Snead also broke down Simpson's journey as being a main component of him being picked at No. 13. Essentially, the
"I think right now he's still becoming, but I would say the journey that he's had I think the thing you appreciate is persevering right through the uh ebbs and flows of going to Alabama, earning the job, getting his first you know let's call it start the opening game against Florida State, and they lose that game and if you...I grew up in Alabama the sky was falling in the state of Alabama. But to see probably that, you know, from that point forward, uh, how they progressed as a team, him as a quarterback, you know, into into the playoffs, that's, you know, that's just the I call it the perseverance that you have when you go through, right? Uh, let's call it hard things," Snead added.
McVay echoed the same sentiments, but also indicated that what they saw from Simpson is similar in nature to how the Rams run their own offense. Extrapolating that, he believes the rookie could fit well into the system when it is his time to start.
"So to be able to add somebody that you can evaluate a body of work where he was asked to play the position, and a lot of things that do translate, in terms of concepts, reading with his feet, some of the different things in the drop-back, in the play action game, the movement game," McVay said. "There's a lot of things that coach Grubb did that's very similar to kind of how we operate, so it made it an easier evaluation to be able to kind of say, 'All right, what would that look like if you did translate it to our level?'"
Though there should not be any sort of questions regarding Stafford being the starting quarterback, McVay also indicated that he spoke to the MVP about drafting Simpson before it happened. The Rams head coach also laid things out that this is still "Stafford's team."
"Let's make one thing clear, this is still Matthew's team, and this was about getting the chance to address the backup quarterback spot," McVay said.
Interestingly McVay seemed to indicate that the addition of Simpson ultimately shuts the door on Jimmy Garoppolo returning. The former backup had already been considering retirement but the Rams also left the door open for him to make a return.
With Simpson being drafted, McVay indicated that he would be directly competition with Stetson Bennett IV for the backup position.
Picking Simpson might be a strange pick for most to accept, and for obvious reasons. The Rams had stated that there was no rush to find Stafford's successor, but that apparently wasn't the case.
Instead of holding out for Oregon's Dante Moore or Texas' Arch Manning in 2027, Los Angeles has taken a big leap of faith in taking Simpson. Time will tell if he works out, but he will spend the next season (and potentially more) sitting behind and learning from one of the league's best quarterbacks.