The Los Angeles Rams may have the defending NFL MVP under center right now, but that isn’t stopping the organization from positioning itself for the future. They may have done just that with the selection of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, who now heads to L.A. as the No. 13 overall pick at the 2026 NFL Draft.
This is quite the surprise to hear Simpson’s name called this early in the draft. Leading up to Thursday’s opening round, it wasn’t a guarantee that he’d hear his name at any point in the first. If he were, it’d probably be in the back half. However, that changes here thanks to the Rams’ belief in Simpson as the heir apparent to Stafford.
Simpson is CBS Sports’ No. 2-ranked quarterback in the 2026 class after a stellar year as the Crimson Tide’s starter. He earned second-team All-SEC honors after throwing for 3,567 yards in 2025, the fourth-most in program history. Simpson’s numbers did dip in the second half of Alabama’s season, but that may have been largely due to him losing weight as he reportedly dealt with a case of gastritis.
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Completion percentage
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67%
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61%
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Passing YPG
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273.4
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184.3
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Yards per attempt
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8.3
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6.3
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TD-INT
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21-1
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7-4
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Simpson is the fourth Alabama quarterback selected in the first round since 2020, joining Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins), Mac Jones (Patriots), and Bryce Young (Panthers).
What Ty Simpson selection means for Matthew Stafford
Matthew Stafford
LAR • QB • #9
CMP%65.0
YDs4707
TD46
INT8
YD/Att7.88
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The selection makes sense despite Stafford being a few months removed from NFL MVP honors, with the veteran only signed through 2026 and entering his age-38 season. Father Time could knock at any point, and Stafford flirted with retirement in the past, so having Simpson locked in as a future starter developing in the wings gives McVay and company long-term security at the position.
“Let’s make one thing clear: this is Matthew’s team,” McVay told reporters on Thursday night. “You get a chance to be able to address the backup quarterback, we’ve got Stetson (Bennett), we’ve talked about the importance of Jimmy (Garoppolo). To be able to add somebody where you can evaluate a body of work where he was asked to play the position … there are a lot of things that coach (Ryan) Grubb did that’s similar to how we operate, so it made it an easier evaluation … we’re always going to make decisions that we think are best for the short and the long term.”
However, this pick is interesting when paired with a report from NFL Media that noted Stafford and the Rams made significant progress on a contract extension. If Stafford plays beyond 2026, it could send the Alabama product on a Jordan Love-type track. Love was a first-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2020, but sat behind Aaron Rodgers for three seasons before taking the reins in 2023.
The Rams called Stafford earlier on Thursday to tell him of their plans to select Simpson, so the veteran was in the know at the time he was selected, according to ESPN. Keeping Stafford in the fold indicates that he is their unquestioned starter for 2026. Beyond that, it’ll get interesting as the organization would likely want to see what they have in Simpson at some point after just using the 13th pick on him.
Overall, this appears like a solid succession plan given Stafford’s age and contract situation, and Simpson likely needs some time to develop with just 15 collegiate starts under his belt.
“I hate sitting here and going, ‘you’re a player away in the draft from a Super Bowl.’ At the end of the day, what we want to accomplish in the draft and any acquisitions that we have is to try to engineer as competent a team as possible, and then let’s go to work,” Rams GM Les Snead stated. “Let’s get through May, let’s get through June, let’s come back in August, let’s then go to Australia and play game one and try to be the best team and try to evolve and play our best football at the end. I don’t want to sit here in April and say, ‘Ok, we drafted one player and now we’ll go to the Super Bowl.’ There is a lot of hard work that happens between this night and whoever is playing in that game in Feburary.”
2026 NFL Draft essentials
- Live draft blog: Rumors, trades and picks in real time
- Interactive draft tracker: Filter every pick by round, team, position and more
- Live team grades: Instant analysis for every team’s draft class
- Round 1 pick grades: Full breakdowns for every first-round selection
- Full draft order: All 257 picks by team
