Ty Simpson's Rams preseason debut turns heads

Ty Simpson wasn't supposed to be a top-15 pick this year. The Alabama product was viewed as a developmental project for most of the pre-draft process, but the Rams stunned the room by taking him 13th overall out of Pittsburgh back in April. Fast forward to his first real NFL action, and that pick is looking a whole lot smarter.

That's about as clean a stat line as a rookie quarterback can turn in against anyone, let alone against a Chiefs defense that still had starters mixed in for parts of the game. The Rams walked away with a 20-12 win, and both of Simpson's touchdown passes went to running back Dean Connors. He didn't exactly light it up early either — Simpson opened the game with a three-and-out before settling in and carving up the back half of the contest.

Context matters here. Simpson signed a 4-year, $25.4 million rookie deal — the last of the 32 first-rounders to get his contract done — and landed in about as cushy a QB room as exists in the NFL. Matthew Stafford is coming off an MVP-caliber season and, at 38, still shows no signs of slowing down, which means Simpson's real job in 2026 is to sit, learn under Sean McVay and not get exposed before he has to.

None of that changes what a preseason opener like this does to the discourse. Sleeper's NFL account flagged the raw numbers, and fantasy managers who'd never heard of Simpson before August started doing quiet dynasty research within the hour.

Preseason stat lines age fast — Simpson was picking apart backups and camp bodies, not a starting NFL defense, and everyone watching knows that. But first impressions still matter for a guy who fell further than expected on draft night and needs to build goodwill fast. Sleeper's follow-up question cuts right to it: has one preseason half actually changed anyone's opinion on him, or is this just August noise that gets forgotten by Week 1 of the real season?

For now, Simpson is exactly where the Rams want him: the guy fans are talking about without any pressure to actually start. Stafford's not going anywhere in 2026, so Simpson gets to keep stacking clean reps like this one behind closed doors before anyone asks him to do it when it counts.