The Rams often see their very own draft pick fall late in the primary round, but armed with the Falcons’ selection (via a first-round trade last 12 months), Los Angeles will use the mid-first-round real estate to make a long-term investment.
Rumored to be high on Ty Simpson — but seen as iffy to pick him this high — the Rams are taking a Matthew Stafford heir apparent at No. 13. The Falcons traded up 20 spots so as to add James Pearce Jr. last 12 months. The Rams will use that to bet on Simpson, a one-year Alabama starter.
Stafford has not yet signed an extension, but that’s widely rumored to be within the offing. This may create an interesting dynamic, because the Rams have followed the 2020 Packers’ lead by taking a quarterback in the primary round as a Super Bowl contender. Jordan Love turned out to be a wise move; will the Rams be thankful they took Simpson in a draft-and-develop scenario?
A recent Trade Rumors Front Office piece listed the Rams’ lack of prime draft real estate as a think about the Simpson derby. While rumors circulated the team was preparing so as to add strength to this 12 months’s roster — as rumblings Simpson could fall out of Round 1 altogether emerged — the team will take the possibility on adding a passer who is not going to be expected (barring a Stafford injury) to contribute this season. It is sort of possible Simpson shall be sitting for at the least two years, representing a rare (just about Green Bay-only) developmental route amongst modern QBs.
Such an approach often is the best-case scenario for Simpson. The identical developmental route benefited him in Tuscaloosa. Sitting as a real freshman behind future No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young, then sitting two more years behind Jalen Milroe before finally being named the starter for the Crimson Tide. In his single season leading the first-team offense, Simpson was in a position to look past an initial faltering out the gate in a brutal loss to a below average Florida State team to grow to be one in all the most popular names in college football over the primary half of the season.
In nine starts, Simpson looked just like the early frontrunner for QB1 on this draft class, completing 66.9 percent of his passes for 21 touchdowns and just one interception while averaging 273.4 passing yards per game. Despite the disappearance the Tide’s WR1 from 2024 Ryan Williams and the surprising lack of a run game in Bryant-Denny Stadium, it looked like Simpson had put his squad back on course for a straightforward run to the College Football Playoff. Over the following six weeks, though, Simpson saw a stark decline in quality of play, completing only 60.5 percent of his passes for seven touchdowns and 4 interceptions while only averaging 184.3 passing yards per game.
Speculation over what caused this deterioration offered theories that a house loss to Oklahoma had revealed his kryptonite, that teams had finally gotten enough film to figure him out, or that his health had limited his performance. It was believed that a lower back injury and elbow bursitis began hurting him in October, while other reports cited gastritis that caused him to lose nearly 20 kilos. Adding injury to insult, his season ended when he suffered a fractured rib in a blowout loss to the eventual champion Hoosiers.
Sitting behind Stafford, Simpson must have loads of time to get fully healthy, if he isn’t already. He’ll even have ample time to scrub up the minor parts of his game that scouts nitpicked from his lone 12 months as a starter. Evaluators desired to see a greater number of touch on his passes together with improved consistency on deep passes. Any lack of starting experience isn’t going to go anywhere as he sits for a a pair more years, but as a prospect praised for his mental acuity, getting to check film and NFL defenses while backing up an MVP for a 12 months or two should do miracles for his NFL development.
If all goes as planned, it could be a while before we hear Simpson’s name again with any significance. If all goes as planned, Simpson must be taking up an a talented offense as a seasoned NFL player with a pair years of preparation under his belt. The Rams are hoping things will go in response to plan.