Ty Simpson’s landing spot with the Rams is starting to look a lot clearer, and the biggest takeaway is simple: Los Angeles isn’t asking him to be ready all at once.
That’s the point Justin Melo made in his recent Sports Illustrated ranking of 2026 rookie quarterbacks, where Simpson checked in at No. 2 behind Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza, the Heisman winner at Indiana last season and the No. 1 pick in the draft, took the top spot. Simpson’s placement gave a little more shape to a situation that has drawn plenty of debate since the Rams made him one of their more controversial draft prospects in recent memory.
For all the noise around the pick, there’s also a practical case for it. The Rams are banking on a future franchise quarterback, and in doing so they’ve given themselves some insulation from the swings of future drafts and the thin pickings that can come in free agency.
Melo put it plainly: "As an inexperienced one-year starter, the situation is ideal for his development, as he's expected to spend multiple seasons learning behind Matthew Stafford."
That’s the kind of setup teams dream about with a first-round quarterback. Simpson doesn’t have to sprint into the fire. He gets time, and in the NFL that matters more than almost anything else.
The expectation is that he sits this season, and that reality won’t stop the criticism from rolling in as the year goes on. First-round quarterbacks rarely get much breathing room, and the second they’re drafted, the clock starts ticking. But if the biggest knock on Simpson is his lack of experience, then the chance to learn behind Stafford and work with a coaching staff that’s well regarded for developing quarterbacks is hardly a bad place to start.
There’s also a lot of misplaced debate about where this goes next. Some want to frame it as Simpson versus Stafford.
Others want to make it Simpson against Stetson Bennett. Neither of those battles looks like the real story for 2026.
The Rams appear to understand that Simpson is a player who should be peaking in one or two years, not one who needs to be forced into the spotlight right now.
That’s the value of this kind of rookie setup: no panic, no rush, no need to turn a long-term plan into a short-term test. The ideal rookie in the ideal spot doesn’t need to be hurried, and training camp is a good time to remember that.
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