The Los Angeles Rams hope they will not need Ty Simpson in a game at any point during the 2026 regular season, save for mop-up duty, lest they want to rest Matthew Stafford for the regular-season finale.
That reality highlights how polarizing the Rams’ decision to use their first-round pick, the 13th overall selection of the 2026 draft, on Simpson has been in the months since.
One former executive made it clear he was against the pick and the Rams’ approach.
Rams Get Harsh Critique From Former 49ers GM
GettyTy Simpson will sit behind Matthew Stafford for as long as necessary.
The Rams were long projected to select a skill player, with wide receiver the most frequently speculative addition ahead of the draft, before the idea that they could select Simpson instead gained steam.
Former NFL executive Scot McCloughan derided Simpson’s ceiling and the Rams’ decision.
“My personal opinion, of course. But I’m just one guy. I think the quarterback from Alabama is overdrafted,” McCloughan said on 980 AM when asked directly on July 3.
“It’s the position alone. I think–not being a guru–but he’s like J.J. McCarthy. He’s like Mac Jones. He’s a career backup. Ideally– ideally–he might start. But that’s because of where his pick was, and a they-want-to-prove-everybody-right type of thing. And that’s not the way you should build a roster; not at all.”
The Rams’ decision to select Simpson has everything to do with Stafford, the reigning MVP who navigated a back injury before his stellar season and is admittedly taking a year-to-year approach with his career.
Stafford, 38, is heading into his 18th NFL season.
Also notable, McCloughan spent five years with the San Francisco 49ers from 2005 through 2009, including being their general manager during his final two years.
Rams Reached for Ty Simpson With 13th Overall Pick
GettyThe Los Angeles Rams passed on skill players to draft Ty Simpson 13th overall.
McCloughan, who held the GM role in Washington in 2015 and 2016, may not exactly be an unbiased party. But he is also not alone in questioning the Rams’ decision to select Simpson rather than a skill player who could help Stafford this season.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell also took the Rams’ decision to task. Barnwell noted that the Rams “swerved drastically from their Super Bowl window-maximizing approach” by taking Simpson.
“Selecting a player who won’t play without a Stafford injury is the opposite of maximizing their current window. And it looks even stranger after the Garrett trade. It’s not because backup quarterbacks don’t matter — they do — but a veteran backup could have been had for much less capital,” Barnwell wrote in June.
“Not to mention that Simpson was a reach at No. 13; the Rams could have traded back and still had a good chance to select him later. The argument that it wasn’t the Rams’ original pick (it was the result of the Falcons trading up to draft James Pearce Jr. in 2025) and therefore was “extra” is irrational — it’s still worth the same! It was a big missed opportunity to add a non-quarterback (like a third wide receiver) who could have helped in 2026.”
Moreover, the Rams remain without an experienced backup behind Stafford.
Simpson is a rookie. 2023 fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett IV has yet to take a snap in a regular-season game. The situation is quite risky for Rams general manager Les Snead.
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