It’s difficult to make sense of the rumors flying around ahead of the NFL Draft’s opening round on Thursday night and the biggest one of all for the Rams: Are the Los Angeles Rams in the sweepstakes for Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson?
This is a summary of the reports on Monday:
- The Cardinals love Simpson and there is another team in the mix
- The other team could be the Rams or Jets
- The Rams are keeping an eye open toward trading up, per Albert Breer
- The Cardinals want to move down but not behind the Rams, according to Todd McShay
- Tom Pelissero says the Rams have done “extensive work on Simpson”
One complication of LA’s apparent interest in Simpson is the idea that they were targeting him towards the end of the first round with the second of two first round picks. The Rams sent the 29th selection to the Chiefs in the overall
trade package for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, which could signal the end of their hopes to land the quarterback.
Or what if Simpson’s stock is rising ahead of the draft and the Rams know that if they want Simpson it may require the 13th pick? After all, this is the team’s earliest selection since they took Jared Goff first overall in 2016. It’s only fitting that they would also use this premium draft position on another quarterback in the twilight of Matthew Stafford’s career.
Whether the Rams are feigning interest in Simpson remains to be seen. Taunting teams into moving up ahead of you for a quarterback when you aren’t interested only improves the available pool of players. It’s smart business and something we’ve seen from Les Snead before.
But in the off chance that Los Angeles truly is targeting Simpson in the first round, we should at least understand what the quarterback brings to the table as a player.
Jon Gruden had the Alabama product on his QB Class show on YouTube. It’s a great view from a former NFL coach who addresses some of the concerns surrounding Simpson’s draft profile.
Get ready to learn Ty Simpson. He could be the newest quarterback in Los Angeles as of Thursday evening.
