{"id":285322,"date":"2026-04-25T09:21:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T09:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/285322\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T09:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T09:21:15","slug":"rams-have-plenty-of-reason-to-smile-after-day-2-of-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/285322\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams have plenty of reason to smile after Day 2 of NFL draft"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sean McVay<\/a> and Les Snead<\/a> returned to form on Friday.<\/p>\n

A day after their uncharacteristically subdued news conference in the wake of selecting quarterback Ty Simpson<\/a> with the No. 13 overall pick in the NFL draft, the Rams\u2019 coach and general manager smiled. They joked. They looked and sounded like one of the NFL\u2019s most successful pair of decision-makers.<\/p>\n

But mostly they tamped down speculation about a rift in their partnership. McVay also explained the reason for his \u201cgrumpy\u201d demeanor<\/a> the previous night.<\/p>\n

After selecting Ohio State tight end Max Klare<\/a> in the second round and Missouri offensive lineman Keagen Trost<\/a> in the third, McVay bounded into Friday\u2019s news conference and quipped, \u201cWhat do you guys think? Am I angry right now?\u201d<\/p>\n

McVay doubled down on comments Snead made during a radio interview on Friday morning, during which Snead said they worked in \u201clockstep\u201d when making decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing that would never be doubted is we couldn\u2019t be any more in lockstep in every decision that we make,\u201d McVay said, adding. \u201cCouldn\u2019t be more excited about us continuing to lead together.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut every decision we make is collective and collaborative … this is my buddy right here.\u201d<\/p>\n

McVay said his demeanor Thursday was not a reflection of how he felt about Simpson, but how he feels about starting quarterback Matthew Stafford<\/a>, the reigning NFL most valuable player who is preparing for his 18th season.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams general manager Les Snead, left, and coach Sean McVay are all smiles after Day 2 of the 2026 NFL draft on Friday.<\/p>\n

(Gary Klein \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cCouldn\u2019t be more excited about being able to add [Simpson],\u201d he said, \u201cbut also understanding of how much I love Matthew Stafford, how respectful you want to always be to just the way things can be interpreted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rams are Stafford\u2019s team, McVay said. And Simpson will benefit from studying under him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a blessing it is for him to be able to learn from Matthew, to be able to come into this atmosphere and environment,\u201d McVay said. \u201cBut whenever the time comes for him to get an opportunity to be Matthew\u2019s successor, it will be on Matthew\u2019s terms, and I think that\u2019s what the important thing was.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Simpson, Klare and Trost, the Rams have added three offensive players to a team that is expected to be a favorite to play in Super Bowl LXI in February at SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

During an introductory news conference earlier Friday, Simpson reiterated that he was eager to learn from Stafford and play for McVay.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t wait to talk to Matthew,\u201d said Simpson, who characterized the veteran as \u201can assassin\u201d on the field. \u201cI\u2019m super excited because I just want to pick his brain about everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simpson, the son of Tennessee Martin coach Jason Simpson, is \u201ca football junkie\u201d who \u201cplays with timing and rhythm,\u201d McVay said. \u201cYou can see that he\u2019s a coach\u2019s son.\u201d<\/p>\n

The resilience Simpson demonstrated, the ability to \u201cstay the course, to go through some different challenging adversities,\u201d impressed McVay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that shaped him,\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n

Simpson will compete with Stetson Bennett to back up Stafford. Jimmy Garoppolo, Stafford\u2019s backup the last two seasons, is a free agent and mulling retirement, according to McVay and Snead.<\/p>\n

\"Missouri <\/p>\n

Missouri offensive lineman Keagen Trost runs a drill at the NFL scouting combine on March 1.<\/p>\n

(Michael Conroy \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Is the door completely closed on a possible return?<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say you\u2019d ever close it but by being able to do what we did [drafting Simpson] it probably lessens the level of urgency for that position,\u201d McVay said, \u201cbut I certainly wouldn\u2019t ever say never to anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klare adds to a tight end group that includes veteran Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen and second-year pro Terrance Ferguson.<\/p>\n

Midway through last season, the Rams pivoted to sets that utilized three tight ends, known as \u201c13\u201d personnel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing better than 13 personnel,\u201d Klare said.<\/p>\n

Trost is listed as a tackle but he is capable of playing all five positions on the line, Snead said.<\/p>\n

On Saturday the Rams have one pick in the sixth round and three in the seventh.<\/p>\n

Though the roster is regarded as Super Bowl ready, the Rams could use another receiver to complement stars Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.<\/p>\n

\u201cReceiver\u2019s always in the mix here,\u201d Snead said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sean McVay and Les Snead returned to form on Friday. A day after their uncharacteristically subdued news conference…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[4690,122280,217,6848,2424,122281,48,52,51,74127,47,50,49,11396,7529,17640,11706,35218,43889,13571,29443],"class_list":["post-285322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-coach","tag-comment-snead","tag-day","tag-decision","tag-friday","tag-klare","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-les-snead","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-matthew","tag-news-conference","tag-nfl-draft","tag-ram","tag-reason","tag-sean-mcvay","tag-simpson","tag-stafford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}