Rams: (#13) 1st Round QB Ty Simpson

[Flatlyner]

View: https://x.com/JFowlerESPN/status/2047736789784306110

Excellent piece.

Multiple team sources said they believe McVay might have felt the need to downplay the pick in order to accentuate his confidence in Stafford.

The Rams received trade calls on the 13th pick, a source confirmed. Teams coveted Penn State guard Olaivavega Ioane, who went 14th to Baltimore, and a trade with Los Angeles would have helped a team jump Baltimore for the top guard. But Los Angeles stood pat

It is a bummer we couldn't trade down and still get him, but they clearly had knowledge of either Cards or Steelers pouncing.

 

[Fire Ants]

We feel any differently after sleeping on it?

Yes, I'm good to go for tonight.

 

[OldSchool]

Excellent piece.

Multiple team sources said they believe McVay might have felt the need to downplay the pick in order to accentuate his confidence in Stafford.

The Rams received trade calls on the 13th pick, a source confirmed. Teams coveted Penn State guard Olaivavega Ioane, who went 14th to Baltimore, and a trade with Los Angeles would have helped a team jump Baltimore for the top guard. But Los Angeles stood pat

It is a bummer we couldn't trade down and still get him, but they clearly had knowledge of either Cards or Steelers pouncing.

That can't be I read here they were forced into the pick because nobody wanted to trade with them

 

[Memphis Ram]

Excellent piece.

Multiple team sources said they believe McVay might have felt the need to downplay the pick in order to accentuate his confidence in Stafford.

The Rams received trade calls on the 13th pick, a source confirmed. Teams coveted Penn State guard Olaivavega Ioane, who went 14th to Baltimore, and a trade with Los Angeles would have helped a team jump Baltimore for the top guard. But Los Angeles stood pat

It is a bummer we couldn't trade down and still get him, but they clearly had knowledge of either Cards or Steelers pouncing.

I figured that Proctor was the apple of other teams eye since no trade occurred after he was selected until #20.

Ioane to the Ravens was a chalk mock draft selection. I'm guessing that one of those team was the Chargers at #22.

 

[AZRams]

I think the Rams not spending #13 on Lemon shows just how committed they're going to be about 13 personnel next year (looking at you, Terrance Ferguson!).

The Rams zigged while the rest of the league zagged. That's worked out pretty well under Snead / McVay so far.

Doesn't feel like going out on a limb but if it is, so be it. Lots of folk act like a day-one WR was essential to getting to where they want to go.

Last year they were plays away from reaching that goal. They didn't lose home-field advantage in the NFCCG b/c of the WR room. Neither did they lose the NFCCG b/c of it.

The most glaring weakness was in the secondary and they've already fixed that. In spades as I keep saying.

Yes, they can use another WR and OL depth but who was the unicorn still available at 13 that was going to push this team onto the winner's podium at the SB all by himself?

 

[BonifayRam]

I think the Rams not spending #13 on Lemon shows just how committed they're going to be about 13 personnel next year (looking at you, Terrance Ferguson!).

The Rams zigged while the rest of the league zagged. That's worked out pretty well under Snead / McVay so far.

You are a very smart Ram fan. All anyone needs to do...... is read the receiver room, that would include the 5 TE's . We have 2 very good experience TE's in Higbee & Parkinson.

The 3 youngins have not gotten much attention on the the field as of yet. However they are here & under contract with a full season or seasons under their belts.

Besides what's known about last yrs top draft selection Terrance Ferguson, Both unused Davis Allen & Mark Redman have excellent hands and reach.

 

[DzRams]

I get all that - but how busy can you really be not to want to meet the next franchise QB before you choose him? Never even spoke to him? That doesn’t feel odd to you?

No, because it's the Rams. Over this McSnead era, they've done a lot of things that are unconventional.

It wasn't because of McVay's busyness that they didn't meet. It's more that meeting the HC has never been reported to be a huge part of their drafting process.

Last year, Jourdan Rodrigue did an amazing piece on how players "become Rams." The biggest part in the process was how the Rams send senior personnel staff to meet with players they have high interest in, their families, and college coaches over a period of days. That process is also what allows them to keep their interest in players secret. Meeting with the HC wasn't mentioned in the process.

 

[Memento]

Also a positive? This means that Carson Beck will be nowhere near this team.

Really don't like that guy as a prospect and as the antithesis of a graceful competitor. Hopefully Arizona takes him.

 

[WestCoastRam]

For the most part I'm happy with the way the Rams run their draft offseason and understand the reasons for not having top 30 visits and even the secrecy of not wanting to tip their hand on QBs...

but McVay has a documented history of being hard on his QBs and you'd think having him meet with his future starting QB where he could get a sense of whether the kids personality can jive with a HC who can be unforgiving of certain mistakes at the position would be an important thing to happen.

 

[Cjcinec]

To be honest I was extremely disappointed with the pick. I really bought the hype on Lemon and was thinking WIN NOW.After watching Lemon’s interview I was a little relieved. Talk about strange! The more I thought about Simpson I realized it was one of the needs you have to address before you’re ever ready and while it’s not going to pay dividends immediately there’s gonna be a time to pay the piper eventually. I think it’s pretty clear that Stafford’s plans are to retire after 2026. Rams made the move last offseason to get the extra number 1 pick. I wished they could have moved down and made the same pick but the Jets who ended up drafting twice after the Rams would definitely have drafted Simpson. I look at this as McDuffie being our number 1 pick and Simpson 1A with one draft pick having immediate effect on the team and the other being our future QB project. This team is still stacked and ready to compete for a championship and hopefully we can add a couple of pieces that could help them immediately on day 2 and depth pieces on day 3. They have a great roster with some big time contracts coming due next season. The only way you can keep that nucleus together would be having a cost controlled QB in the fold. I trust Sean McVay’s ability to develop a young QB.

 

[WestCoastRam]

I am fine with the winner of the "Bennett vs Simpson Sweepstakes" being our QB2. Simpson should have no problems winning that, but it would be nice to see Bennett make it interesting. Either way, though, if Stafford misses time and we end up picking higher in the 2027 draft that isn't the worst thing in the world. It will be a good draft to be selecting high.

If Bennett makes it interesting then I think people can feel quite confident that Simpson will end up being a bust.

 

[TheTackle]

Inside Rams' decision to draft QB Ty Simpson at No. 13​

Sarah Barshop contributed to the reporting of this piece.

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Thanks for sharing, Memphis

That is one of the best insider articles I have read. Smart teams make decisions like this for the reasons explained

We all need to get behind it, and the kid, because if it works out, which it should, we are set for years

Look at the Saints for an example of what it can look like when you lose a Hall of Fame QB to retirement with only a wing and a prayer for succession

 

[OldSchool]

Man he looks so pissed that Les forced this player on the team.

 

[Psycho_X]

Scouts were aware of Snead's connection with Simpson's father, Jason, the head coach at University of Tennessee-Martin. Snead referenced Thursday night that he and Jason Simpson played SEC football around the same time and "don't have a real relationship" other than through football connections. But Snead confirmed the Simpson family consulted him for advice about whether to enter the draft after the 2025 season, citing the Rams' role in the College Advisory Committee to help players with the decision-making process. In those talks, Snead relayed to the family that Simpson is a first-round-caliber player, per NFL Network national insider Ian Rapoport.​

Can we stop with the weird hill some are dying on here that Snead had a personal relationship with Simpson's family and that's why they drafted him? They asked Snead for advice and he gave it to them. That seems to be the extent.

 

[Tano]

I think Jimmy G. not being on this roster has everything to do with our plan to draft Ty Simpson. Had we not come away with Simpson in this Draft, I think we'd have re-signed Jimmy. IMO, we were waiting until the Draft to decide because we planned on Simpson being the guy.

Glad McVay stuck it to his friend LaFleur lol.

Exactly. Some of us said this last night. You can't risk blowing up the relationship with Stafford by popping champagne bottles at the press conference.

You don't have to pop champagne bottles to show just a little more emotion.

He could have said things like - I think right now he could be a good backup for us but that he will have to work for it. In addition, I see good things in the future for him. And leave it at that. But NOTHING? Hmmm.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Nice shout out about Mumpfield in that piece, I don't have high hopes for him but there's a narrow lane where he takes the WR 3/Z/slot spot next year with more size from an NFL program and improved route running (he was sorta savvy already).

At the bare minimum, I expect he'll have a lock on WR 4 this year and be useful there.

 

[DzRams]

For the most part I'm happy with the way the Rams run their draft offseason and understand the reasons for not having top 30 visits and even the secrecy of not wanting to tip their hand on QBs...

but McVay has a documented history of being hard on his QBs and you'd think having him meet with his future starting QB where he could get a sense of whether the kids personality can jive with a HC who can be unforgiving of certain mistakes at the position would be an important thing to happen.

There's definitely some risk in McVay not meeting with him, but they probably felt they could get a handle on that risk because of his pedigree and the ability to sus out personality by interviewing people close to the player. That Simpson is a coaches son is vitally important to your point about whether he can take hard coaching.

At the end of the day, they determined that the risk that a McVay meeting would leak and drum up more interest outweighs the risk of the HC not meeting him.

 

[Memphis Ram]

I think the Rams not spending #13 on Lemon shows just how committed they're going to be about 13 personnel next year (looking at you, Terrance Ferguson!).

The Rams zigged while the rest of the league zagged. That's worked out pretty well under Snead / McVay so far.

I may be in the minority but I would sorta been have disappointed if they had selected Lemon at #13. I liked Cooper Jr. more. He seemed to have more non slot WR potential to me. But what do I know as I was almost certain they were going to select Denzel Boston.

 

[Mojo Ram]

The #1 offense in the NFL can score however they want and I could care less. And what receivers available when we draft are burners?

Sure, the end result is the same statistically. It goes deeper than that though. A typical successful Rams scoring drive looks like Stafford’s arm and Puka acrobatics moving the chains 80 yards to paydirt and Kyren punching it in 2 yards out.

A lot can go wrong with that model. More to the point, that’s a lot of pressure on the QB and playcaller to sustain these long drives with almost no threat of your RB, TE or WR taking one of those 10 or 12 plays to the house so your 38 yr old QB can go sit down.

As to your question, these playmakers are available nearly every year. Draft, FA, traded. The Rams since ‘22 have appeared to value other football traits much higher than pure playmaking. That strategy has worked in terms of rebuilding the roster quickly with solid players. My point is that as of today, it’s time to pivot a bit from that and inject traits that this offense simply doesn’t have.

Im not sure how half of the fanbase doesn’t see that. I assume they watch other games and offenses. This is a slowish, deliberate offense that is so reliant on Stafford and Puka to make plays and score. Besides Puka there are no players on offense who can regularly win one on one or strike fear into a defense. It wins with execution, solid players and an elite QB but it’s flawed.
McVay and his coaches have done an incredible job here.

Maybe step back and look at it objectively.

I don’t hate the Simpson player at all. I watched almost 4 hrs of material on him last night before bedtime. Including the QB school episode with Gruden. Simpson was impressive. He needs more coaching and he’ll get it.

I don’t like the pick at 13 in this draft, this year.

 

[Tano]

Man he looks so pissed that Les forced this player on the team.

That could be coach speak. McVay is the master at that. And FYI - I am kidding for the most part (or am I).