The Los Angeles Rams selecting Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson with the No. 13 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft was arguably the boldest selection of the draft, and according to the player himself, head coach Sean McVay has the utmost conviction in the young signal-caller.
“We tried to keep this under wraps as long as we could,” Simpson said about his contact with the Rams in an interview on ESPN Radio on Monday. “It was something where I knew they were interested, but they wanted to make it private and didn’t want people to know that they were interested.
“So, I had some secret meetings with Coach McVay, and I just was trying to be on script and do what everybody told me and not to tell anybody.”
Well, those meetings aren’t so “secret” anymore, now are they, Ty?
As for keeping their interest in Simpson “under wraps,” the Rams did precisely that, as they neither met with Simpson at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine or brought him in for a top-30 visit.
After serving as a backup quarterback to Bryce Young (2022) and Jalen Milroe (2023-24), Simpson got the starting nod for Alabama in 2025. Across 15 games, Simpson totaled 3,567 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns, five interceptions and a 145.2 passer rating, while completing 64.5% of his passes. The Crimson Tide finished the 2025 campaign at 11-4, beating the Oklahoma Sooners in the first round of the College Football Playoff before losing to the Indiana Hoosiers in the quarterfinal round.
Simpson was the second quarterback selected in the draft, the first being Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders with the No. 1 pick. As for who Simpson’s backing up on the Rams, Matthew Stafford is coming off a 2025 season that saw him win NFL MVP honors, but his contract expires after the 2026 season.
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