Since early in his career as the L.A. Rams head coach, Sean McVay has gradually pulled starters, then key backups, out of having any snaps during the preseason. This would lead fans to believe that Ty Simpson, arguably the most important rookie draft pick of McVay’s tenure, will sit out most, if not all, of the preseason. However, given how the Rams quarterback room is currently setup, McVay could go in the complete opposite direction of his usual instincts.
What if Ty Simpson plays during most of
the preseason?
McVay has not stated a preseason plan, and he surely won’t reveal anything until just days before L.A.‘s first preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on August 15. But how can he go in any direction other than Simpson?
Why Simpson could play in the preseason
Matthew Stafford will sit
Obviously, Stafford will sit out the preseason. In fact, Stafford has been kept at bay during offseason workouts and practices, just as he did in 2025 due to his back.
Instead, Stetson Bennett has played with the 1s for most of OTAs, with Simpson rarely seeing action, according to the rookie himself.
Stafford won’t play in the preseason, so that’s easily one down, three to go.
Stetson Bennett is the backup
So far there is no evidence to suggest that Simpson will overtake Bennett as Stafford’s backup. Last month, McVay praised Bennett’s development during this opportunity to prove himself as the heir apparent to Jimmy Garoppolo, while somewhat hesitating to give the same credit to Simpson:
“I’ve seen tremendous growth (from Bennett),” McVay said on June 8. “Obviously, with Matthew not being out here based on the plan and the schedule that we’ve kind of thought was going to be best for him for now and for the long term, Stetson’s gotten a lot more reps than he would’ve otherwise. I think he’s done a really nice job. He’s earning the confidence of his teammates in terms of commanding the huddle. Then, he’s done a lot of good stuff in terms of reading with his feet. (Associate Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach) Dave Ragone does such a good job with those guys as a whole but both he and Ty have had good growth. Stetson especially, I think he’s had a really good last couple of weeks, and I’ve been proud of him.”
The key two words there?
“Stetson especially”
McVay emphasizes that Bennett has had more growth this offseason than Simpson.
It really sounds like Bennett will not only be the backup quarterback, but that Simpson is far enough behind him right now that McVay may not even risk having a competition. Can McVay afford to take reps away from Bennett to give them to Simpson, with the starters, if Bennett is most likely to be the backup?
Well, if Bennett is the backup quarterback … will he play in the preseason this time?
Matthew Caldwell
The Rams also have undrafted free agent rookie Matthew Caldwell on the roster, a typical example of a player who will eat away preseason snaps for McVay and nothing more. He’s a “preseason body”.
But how long can McVay get away with giving snaps to Caldwell? Can Caldwell play that many preseason snaps, even when the preseason doesn’t matter that much to McVay? We can’t even be sure that Caldwell will be on the roster in two weeks, let alone a month from now.
Process of elimination
Ty Simpson should play in the preseason.
Given his lack of experience in college, sitting out three years at Alabama prior to making his first 15 starts last season, Simpson needs to play more ball.
There’s no that much risk in him getting injured either—besides all the normal reasons to avoid getting injured—because it’s not looking as though Simpson will be a backup this year. If Simpson does start to gain ground on Bennett, or Bennett gets injured, then Simpson will not play in the preseason.
However, if nobody is injured, Simpson should become the new Bennett: Starting and finishing every preseason game.
Simpson should play a lot, and anything less would be a mistake for McVay.
