{"id":602376,"date":"2026-04-23T21:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T21:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/602376\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T21:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T21:52:08","slug":"ty-simpson-is-a-big-question-of-round-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/602376\/","title":{"rendered":"Ty Simpson Is a Big Question of Round 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jump to a topicTy Simpson<\/a>Teams planning to trade<\/a>Arvell Reese<\/a>Ranges to watch<\/a>Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>Cleveland Browns<\/a>Arizona Cardinals<\/a>Defensive tackles<\/a>Scheme fits<\/a><\/p>\n

Albert Breer\u2019s mock draft<\/a> | Top 250 prospects<\/a> | 2026 NFL draft tracker <\/a>| 2026 NFL draft guides<\/a> | Best-case\/worst-case scenarios<\/a> | Conor Orr mock draft <\/a>| Daniel Flick mock draft<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are some quick notes on what I\u2019m hearing as we draw closer to the start of the 2026 NFL draft, at 8 p.m. ET. As a reminder, you can follow SI\u2019s draft tracker<\/a> for scouting reports and live grades, and I\u2019ll be streaming live with Conor Orr on SI\u2019s YouTube page<\/a> during Round 1. On to the notes \u2026<\/p>\n

Ty Simpson<\/p>\n

The Ty Simpson question is one that lots of NFL folks continue to ask.<\/p>\n

No one seems to have a firm handle on where the Alabama quarterback will land. We dove into the top guys at the position<\/a> earlier this week, and through the reporting for that story, and all the other reporting I\u2019ve done, I will say it\u2019s tough to find many scouts or coaches that view him as a first-round pick. But we all know how things go at that position.<\/p>\n

The teams that most NFL people have connected to Simpson are the Jets, Cardinals and Rams. It feels, to me at least, like the Jets are comfortable moving forward without spending a high pick on a quarterback this year\u2014with three first-rounders to address that in the 2027 draft. Would the Cardinals take him at 34? Or trade into the first round to get him? Would the Rams take him at 13? Or maneuver with their picks\u2014because they don\u2019t have another pick between 13 and 61\u2014to get into a more appropriate spot to take him?<\/p>\n

Much of the speculation surrounding the Cardinals centers on their need at the position. As for the Rams, there are links between Simpson\u2019s dad and their GM Les Snead that have led to some dot-connecting going all the way back to Simpson declaring for the draft.<\/p>\n

One way or the other, one of the biggest stories of Thursday night will be whether Simpson is still on the board going into Friday.<\/p>\n

Teams planning to trade<\/p>\n

While we\u2019re there, I\u2019d say with the teams exploring moving up<\/a>\u2014the Chiefs, Cowboys, Rams and I\u2019d add the Saints, too\u2014I think we\u2019d be talking about short moves to take advantage of a player slipping a little.<\/p>\n

So would the Cowboys go up two or three spots to get LSU corner Mansoor Delane? Would the Chiefs or Saints maybe work with the Browns to get in front of the Commanders if Sonny Styles or Arvell Reese slides? (I think one or the other will go No. 4 to the Titans<\/a>.) If, for some reason, Jeremiyah Love slips, might the Rams get a little aggressive?<\/p>\n

My sense would be that\u2019s where these teams are preparing to take advantage should an unexpected opportunity present itself.<\/p>\n

Arvell Reese<\/p>\n

An interesting thing I\u2019ve heard is that not every team views Reese, long-term, evolving into a full-time edge rusher like Micah Parsons.<\/p>\n

Some believe his best value would be as an off-ball linebacker on early downs, and an on-the-ball rusher in the nickel. That, in fact, is how he was utilized at Ohio State, with Matt Patricia deploying him in the \u201cBuck\u201d linebacker role he had Jamie Collins play in New England. And it\u2019s why I wouldn\u2019t rule out the Giants as a suitor, with the idea that he could fill their off-ball need, then join Brian Burns and Abdul Carter on the line on third downs.<\/p>\n

In that scenario, my guess is you\u2019d see New York ramp up efforts to deal Kayvon Thibodeaux on Friday and Saturday, since most of Thibodeaux\u2019s current role is as a nickel rusher.<\/p>\n

Ranges to watch<\/p>\n

The three pockets for trades tonight, to me, would be the \u201cmotivated seller\u201d range, with teams in the top 10 looking to move down; the \u201ctackle hungry\u201d range, with teams in the teens looking for offensive linemen; and the \u201cfifth-year option\u201d range, where the Patriots and Seahawks, I\u2019m told, will actively look to bail from the bottom of the first round, hoping a team wants to come up and get the fifth-year option on a player.<\/p>\n

Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n

This is the first time the Chiefs have picked in the top 10 since dealing up for Patrick Mahomes in 2017, and the first time they\u2019ve gone into a draft day with a top-10 selection since Andy Reid\u2019s first year in Kansas City (\u201913), when they held the No. 1 pick. That, to me, is why GM Brett Veach has been so active looking at both moving up and potentially moving down. This is a rare opportunity for the Chiefs that might not come along again for some time. I think if Kansas City moves down, then Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq will be on the radar.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Eagles<\/p>\n

The Eagles have looked at moving up from 23, and it matches their recent history. They\u2019ve moved up in the first round in five of the past seven drafts, going up three spots for Andre Dillard in 2019, two spots for DeVonta Smith in \u201921, two spots for Jordan Davis in \u201922, one spot for Jalen Carter in \u201923 and one spot for Jihaad Campbell last year. Also, in 2024, GM Howie Roseman jumped 10 spots in the second round to get Cooper DeJean. If history repeats itself this year, who would it be for? I\u2019d guess a tackle such as Georgia\u2019s Monroe Freeling or Alabama\u2019s Kadyn Proctor.<\/p>\n

Cleveland Browns<\/p>\n

Of the teams looking to move down, we\u2019ve mentioned the Cardinals and Titans as aggressors. I\u2019d put the Browns in that category, too, and they may wind up having a suitor if, like we said earlier, one of the premium defenders gets out of the top five.<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals<\/p>\n

If the Cardinals trade down, and don\u2019t wind up with Jeremiyah Love, I\u2019d keep an eye on GM Monti Ossenfort looking to fortify the offensive line.<\/p>\n

Defensive tackles<\/p>\n

The defensive tackle class isn\u2019t great, and as such, it\u2019ll be interesting to see what happens with Florida DT Caleb Banks, who has some medical and makeup questions. He clearly has the highest ceiling in the group, and the best chance to be a game wrecker, and I wonder if the Texans might roll the dice on him\u2014on the premise that getting him around a guy like Will Anderson Jr. could lead to him finally realizing his immense potential.<\/p>\n

Scheme fits<\/p>\n

And we\u2019ll finish with some scheme fits. I\u2019d say Penn State mauler Vega Ioane is one for gap-scheme running teams and, as such, I\u2019d be surprised if he gets past the Chargers at 22. And I\u2019d have my eye on the Bills looking for scheme fits for Jim Leonhard\u2019s defense, which is pretty different from the old Buffalo system, with guys such as Ohio State nose Kayden McDonald and Texas A&M rusher Cashius Howell looming as options.<\/p>\n

More NFL Draft from Sports Illustrated\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jump to a topicTy SimpsonTeams planning to tradeArvell ReeseRanges to watchKansas City ChiefsPhiladelphia EaglesCleveland BrownsArizona CardinalsDefensive tacklesScheme fits…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-602376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}