Former NFL general manager Scot McCloughan didn’t hold back when asked about Rams quarterback Ty Simpson, calling the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft “a career backup.”
Speaking on the Team 980 in D.C., McCloughan said, via Valentina Martinez of the New York Post, “I think the quarterback from Alabama is overdrafted. But it’s the position alone, you know.
I think, not being a guru, but he’s like J.J. McCarthy.
He’s like Mac Jones. He’s a career backup.”
McCloughan added that Simpson could end up starting, but not because he’s convinced the quarterback belongs in that spot.
“Ideally, he might start, but that’s because of where his pick was and they want to prove everybody right, you know, type of thing,” McCloughan said. “And that’s not the way you should build a roster. Not at all.”
The critique comes from someone with plenty of front-office experience. McCloughan was the 49ers’ general manager from 2008 to 2009, worked as a personnel executive in Seattle from 2010 to 2013 during the Seahawks’ Super Bowl run, and later served as Washington’s general manager from 2015 to 2016.
Still, the Rams have their own quarterback voice in Sean McVay, who has spent years around the position. Simpson is the first potential starter the team has drafted since McVay arrived in 2017. McVay inherited Jared Goff and later watched the Rams trade for Matthew Stafford in 2021.
For now, Simpson’s future remains unwritten. Stafford has talked about playing into his 40s, so it may be a while before McCloughan’s take is tested one way or the other.
In Other News...
Alabama Still Has A Few Unbeaten Blots Fans Want Erased
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The scheduling side is part of what makes those gaps so hard to close now. Alabama already has Minnesota on the calendar in 2032 and 2033, with the first meeting in Minneapolis and the second in Tuscaloosa, but getting enough non-conference games against the right kind of opponent has only gotten trickier as conference expansion keeps reshaping the sport. Some of the teams on that unbeaten list have already reached the College Football Playoff, and others could get there in the years ahead, which only adds a little more intrigue to the next chance Alabama gets to chip away at the ledger. [Read more 🡒]
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What makes the exercise sting a little for everyone else is how little room it leaves for debate about the Tides staying power. Sabans 2010s teams alone were a model of dominance, and the piece notes that Alabamas standard has been so consistent that it still belongs in the conversation whenever the sport starts sorting out its all-time greats. Georgia may be the current favorite in the race for the 2020s, but the larger point is harder to miss: Alabama has spent generations setting the bar, not chasing it. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama May Be Losing A Lifelong Tide Fan To This Cycle Again
Alabamas push for Monshun Sales has been one of the more intriguing recruiting threads in the 2027 cycle, especially because the five-star wide receiver grew up as a Crimson Tide fan. The staff has made a serious run at him, and by all accounts the visit went well enough to keep Alabama in the conversation as the process moves toward a decision that is expected soon.
The problem is that this is the modern recruiting game, and sentiment only goes so far when NIL enters the picture. Sales has drawn plenty of attention, and Alabama is still trying to close the gap with what he is seeing elsewhere, leaving Tide fans to wonder whether a lifelong pull toward Tuscaloosa will be enough to overcome everything else in play. [Read more 🡒]