Perhaps the biggest shock of the 1st round of the 2026 NFL Draft was the Los Angeles Rams selecting quarterback Ty Simpson with the No. 13 overall pick.
With reigning MVP Matthew Stafford still playing at a high level—albeit in between years—LA decided to draft the future rather than immediately add a player to a team with legitimate Super Bowl hopes.
The Alabama product was also projected by most to be a second-round pick, at best, in the draft. However, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero had left a trail of breadcrumbs in recent weeks linking the Rams to Simpson.
On Friday morning, Pelissero talked about how the Rams were a big factor in Simpson’s decision to enter the draft in the first place as the 23-year-old and his family were considering their next move.
“One of the people he leaned on a lot and told him in December that the floor is a first-round pick for Ty Simpson was Rams general manager Les Snead,” Pelissero explained on Good morning Football. “You fast forward to the next few weeks, again, where Alabama is going to the Rose Bowl and there’s going to be talk of, OK, all the money is moving into college football at this point. Miami offers Ty Simpson $5 million to come over there and play college football in 2026 … they come back and they offer him 6.5 million. That’s more money than the top two in college football so they get a bonus the university. in LA for the Rose Bowl The Rams have Ty Simpson’s parents over to the facility Mom is still gathering all the information. there is no binding on conversation or text or advice but that’s how Les Snead was judged to be a quarterback in the NFL.
Why the Rams felt that way about Simpson was all about how he fit into Sean McVay’s offense, according to Pelissero.
“The Rams went back, they put all these plays on the board. You see, so many RPO-based offenses, including for Fernando Mendoza, and it’s not NFL-style stuff. They mapped over 60 snaps where Ty Simpson turns his back to the line of scrimmage on a play, which is fundamental to the Sean McVay offense. NFL throws. The questions are the size, it’s the length, he’s 6-1 and was about 200 pounds – under 200 when he suffered a stomach bug at the end of last season. But if you go back and move – just ask Carson Beck, Garrett Nussmeier, Drew Allar – you can get over what he can’t do.
“The upside is still there for Ty Simpson. The Rams are betting on it in a big way by using No. 13. Any coach, any coach in the NFL, is going to say, ‘I got the reigning NFL MVP.’ I’m trying to work now. Get help from Matthew Stafford.” Ty Simpson, at best, doesn’t see the field this season, because that would mean something happened to the reigning NFL MVP. For Les Snead, he’s setting this up for the long haul. That doesn’t happen very often, especially when a player is playing at a level as high as Matthew Stafford. But you have to understand, this is what it took for the Rams to get him. Les Snead was on this for months. It wasn’t intentional, we stuck and took a guy. It was Les Sneed’s guy, and we’ll find out in years to come how well that works.”
Much was made of McVay’s move following the first round as the Rams head coach met with the media along with general manager Les Snead. McVay was brief, refusing to say what he told Simpson about the draft call and making a point of declaring it was still Stafford’s team, prompting some to speculate about his unhappiness.
Despite the mind readers and body language experts, there were no surprises in the Rams’ draft Thursday night, according to Pelissero, who added that the club even informed Stafford of its plan to take Simpson ahead of him.