{"id":285362,"date":"2026-04-25T09:58:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T09:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/285362\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T09:58:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T09:58:20","slug":"rams-draft-pick-ty-simpson-aims-to-mirror-matthew-staffords-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/285362\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams’ draft pick Ty Simpson aims to mirror Matthew Stafford’s career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Quarterback Ty Simpson<\/a> arrived in Los Angeles on Friday \u2014 and the Rams\u2019 first-round draft pick<\/a> sounded as if he couldn\u2019t wait to start learning from coach Sean McVay<\/a> and Matthew Stafford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best head coach in the league, the best quarterback in the league, the best … franchise in the league \u2014 it\u2019s a perfect situation,\u201d Simpson said during a news conference at the Rams\u2019 draft headquarters in Inglewood.<\/p>\n

How the situation plays out \u2014 short and long term \u2014 remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Stafford, 38, will enter his 18th NFL season as the reigning NFL most valuable player.<\/p>\n

With free agent Jimmy Garoppolo<\/a> mulling retirement, McVay said Thursday night that Simpson would compete with Stetson Bennett<\/a> to be Stafford\u2019s backup.<\/p>\n

The Rams used the 13th pick to select Simpson, 23, who started 15 games for Alabama.<\/p>\n

McVay said that he had informed Stafford that the Rams would select Simpson.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was great,\u201d McVay said of Stafford\u2019s reaction. \u201cHe\u2019s a stud. He\u2019s always first class in every sense of the word.\u201d<\/p>\n

But McVay and general manager Les Snead<\/a> were not their typically ebullient selves<\/a> when discussing Simpson during their Thursday night news conference. Some observers perceived that as a break in what is regarded as one of the NFL\u2019s best coach-general manager partnerships.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Snead said in an interview with ESPN radio that he and McVay work \u201cin lockstep.\u201d<\/p>\n

So their muted reactions Thursday might have been out of sensitivity, warranted or not, to not upset Stafford after drafting his heir apparent in the first round. McVay took pains to remind that the Rams are Stafford\u2019s team, seemingly to not offend the Rams\u2019 most important player.<\/p>\n

After last year\u2019s draft-day trade with the Atlanta Falcons, the Rams went into the offseason with two first-round picks \u2014 their own at No. 29 and the one acquired from the Falcons at 13.<\/p>\n

\"Ty <\/p>\n

Ty Simpson poses for a photo with his family during a news conference in Inglewood on Friday.<\/p>\n

(Caroline Brehman \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

In March, the Rams used the 29th pick in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, so perhaps the 13th pick was regarded as a luxury.<\/p>\n

They spent it on a player who was at Alabama for four seasons, but started only one.<\/p>\n

Snead acknowledged that as Simpson pondered whether to remain at Alabama or make himself available for the draft, Snead spoke with Simpson\u2019s father, Jason, who like Snead played college football in the Southeastern Conference and is now the coach at Tennessee Martin. Snead said it was in the role similar to the NFL\u2019s College Advisory Committee, which evaluates prospects and lets them know in what round, if any, that they might be selected. Snead reportedly told Jason Simpson his son was first-round caliber.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou try to get across it\u2019s not about where you get drafted,\u201d Snead said Thursday night. \u201cIt\u2019s more about where you go and what situation you go and what you do with that opportunity after.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few months later, the Rams drafted Simpson, who was upbeat as he met with reporters, while his parents and his brother and sister sat nearby.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n

The Rams drafted Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

Simpson, who passed for 28 touchdowns, with five interceptions last season, was in Southern California last January when Alabama lost to Indiana in the Rose Bowl. The Crimson Tide did a walkthrough at SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

Now he will begin his NFL career there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m, I guess, like a redneck in Southern California,\u201d he joked. \u201cSo we\u2019ll see how that goes. But I\u2019m super excited to be here. This is a great place, with great people and I can\u2019t wait to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simpson said that Rams safety Quentin Lake had texted him. He also received a social media message from Stafford\u2019s wife, Kelly, inviting him and his family to reach out if they need anything.<\/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 met with McVay on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got the juice, man,\u201d Simpson said, \u201clike that dude … he\u2019s a fireball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simpson said he benefited from the years he spent at Alabama before he got his opportunity to play last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe years that I sat were … probably more important,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause I had to learn how to practice. I had to learn how to study when I wasn\u2019t playing because I didn\u2019t know when that time was going to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so whenever that time did come \u2014 it was this year \u2014 I made the most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now he is ready for the next phase of his career.<\/p>\n

He said his faith was his foundation, and that he aspires to be \u201cnot only be the best football player I can be,\u201d but also a better teammate and person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to come into the locker room and smile, knowing that \u2018Hey, Ty\u2019s here,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI want to lead, influence people and I think at the quarterback position that\u2019s what you need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

His immediate goal is modest.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy plan is just to get better each and every day,\u201d he said, \u201cso, eventually, I have a long career like Matthew.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Quarterback Ty Simpson arrived in Los Angeles on Friday \u2014 and the Rams\u2019 first-round draft pick sounded as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28848,5676,2424,48,52,51,7036,10572,47,50,49,771,4606,752,122292,11706,10947,13571,74126,29443,4695],"class_list":["post-285362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-alabama","tag-career","tag-friday","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-last-year","tag-league","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-mcvay","tag-nfl","tag-perfect-situation","tag-ram","tag-rams","tag-simpson","tag-snead","tag-stafford","tag-thursday-night"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285362","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=285362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}