A Super Bowl preview of sorts is on deck in Week 1 of the NFL preseason, with the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs meeting on Saturday.
The Rams enter this one after making a major splash to improve their roster, adding Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett on the defensive side and also bringing in Trent McDuffie, who will now get a preseason look against his former team. Even with those additions, the biggest Rams storyline here may be what happens under center behind Matthew Stafford.
Sean McVay has a long track record of keeping his starters out of preseason action, so Stafford likely won’t see much, if any, time in the next few weeks. That opens the door to a backup battle worth watching, with Stetson Bennett IV and Ty Simpson fighting for the job.
Bennett, a fourth-round pick out of Georgia in 2023, will be in the mix again, while Simpson, the No. 13 pick this year, is set to make his first NFL appearance. The Rams are counting on him to grow into the Stafford successor, and if he doesn’t, that draft choice is going to draw plenty of second-guessing.
McVay’s preseason numbers also point toward a competitive game. He’s 12-16 straight up and 15-11-2 against the spread as an NFL head coach, a profile that fits a team often priced as an underdog because its starters sit, yet still manages to hang around. That setup feels familiar here.
Kansas City is dealing with its own preseason approach. Andy Reid has already said none of his starters will play, and his preseason record against the spread sits at 47-50-2. There are also questions about the depth of the Chiefs’ roster, which makes this matchup more interesting than a typical August tune-up.
In Other News...
Ty Simpson Just Forced A Rams Quarterback Question Nobody Expected
The Rams walked out of their preseason matchup with the Chiefs carrying a win, but the bigger takeaway was how quickly Ty Simpson made himself part of the conversation. In his debut, the rookie quarterback looked poised and efficient, giving Los Angeles a clean first look at a player who suddenly seems impossible to ignore as the team sorts through its depth chart heading into the rest of the preseason.
The performance added a layer of intrigue to a position battle the Rams may not have expected to be this interesting, this soon. It also came on a night when rookie offensive tackle Keagen Trost had to leave with a hamstring injury and was ruled out, a reminder that roster evaluations in August are never just about who flashes brightest under the lights. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Give Late Linebacker Addition A Short Window To Impress
The Rams added linebacker Monty Rice late in the preseason cycle, bringing in a veteran body to help patch a thin spot at the position. Rice arrives with NFL stops in Tennessee, New England and Detroit after time in the UFL, and his immediate job is straightforward: give the defense another player who can handle preseason reps without forcing the coaching staff to lean too heavily on the same group.
For Rice, the opportunity is real but limited. He is expected to work mainly in a restricted role in preseason games, and his path beyond that depends entirely on how quickly he shows he can help in practice and in live action. The Rams are still sorting out their depth chart at linebacker, so this is the kind of late look that can turn into something more if a player makes the most of a short window. [Read more 🡒]
Bills May Have Found An Early-Season Weapon After D.J. Moores Debut
Ty Simpsons preseason debut offered the Rams a useful first look at where their rookie quarterback stands after a promising opening weekend around the league. Week 1 was full of players whose stock moved sharply, and Simpson fit the favorable side of that ledger after turning in an impactful showing that put him among the early standouts worth tracking as camp competition continues.
For Los Angeles, that matters because the Rams are still sorting through what they have at quarterback and how quickly a young arm can translate flashes into real momentum. Simpsons performance gave the staff something to build on, even as other notable names around the NFL stumbled or looked uneven, and it leaves his development as one of the more interesting threads to watch as the preseason moves forward. [Read more 🡒]