Former two-time NFL general manager Scot McCloughan didn’t hold back when he assessed 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,” McCloughan said. “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 Rams are getting a franchise quarterback.
“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 criticism carries some weight coming from McCloughan, who has a long résumé in personnel work. He was the 49ers’ general manager from 2008 to 2009, worked in Seattle as a personnel executive from 2010 to 2013 during the years the team built a Super Bowl champion, and later served as Washington’s general manager from 2015 to 2016.
Still, the Rams have their own quarterback pedigree in the building. Sean McVay has been around quarterbacks since arriving in 2017, and Simpson is the first potential starter the team has drafted in that span. McVay inherited Jared Goff, then the Rams traded for Matthew Stafford in 2021.
For now, Simpson’s future remains unwritten. And with Stafford talking about playing into his 40s, it may be a while before McCloughan’s take is tested one way or the other.
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