There truly will be some introductory handshakes and greetings when Ty Simpson arrives at the Rams’ facility on Friday.
The Alabama quarterback indicated he did not speak with coach Sean McVay and specifically said he had not conversed with general manager Las Snead ahead of being the surprise No. 13 pick Thursday night.
The revelation has added to the awkwardness of the pick after McVay appeared to be less than thrilled that a win-now team took a backup quarterback who likely won’t help during the 2026 season.
“It was really brief, to be honest with you,” Simpson said of his pre-draft Rams interactions. “I met with some scouts at (Alabama), and that was really it. They talked to my agent, but that was really not much.”
He later added: “I’m looking forward to meeting (Snead) and getting to know coach.”
Simpson is not the first player to ever be drafted without conversing with a team’s top brass before being drafted, but it’s odd that a team would not invest more time into their potential future quarterback considering all that comes with the game’s most important position.
The Giants, for example, grilled the top quarterback options such as Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft, even though they ultimately did not land any of the top options.
The Rams, though, relied on their scouts and what they saw on tape to draft a player whom generated different takes from prognosticators.
While some had Simpson landing in the first round, others wondered if he would be available for the Jets with the first pick of the second round before they moved up to make their third first-round pick.
Snead did say he talked with Simpson’s father, Jason, the head coach at UT Martin, before the draft regarding the draft process.
“I really had no clue. I knew that they liked me,” Simpson said of the Rams’ interest. “It was contact with the scouts and Alabama would always open doors for us and it was asking me personal questions and getting to know me and knowing about my journey. It was something that I took pride in about my journey about how I got here and now I’m a Los Angeles Ram.”
The lack of interactions is also notable due to McVay’s curious body language and comments while he and Snead met with the press after the pick.
The Super Bowl-winning coach previously told Kay Adams he “probably haven’t done as much work on him as you have” while praising his demeanor.
While McVay can be gregarious, he seemed rather straight to the point.
Some have speculated if the coach would have preferred a prospect who could immediately help a team that lost in the NFC Championship Game last season compared to a long-term play.
“There were a lot of players that we liked but when you do look at it, I think the thing you liked about the body of work — let’s make one thing clear, this is Matthew’s team,” McVay said.
“You get a chance to address the backup quarterback, we’ve got Stetson (Bennett), we’ve talked about the importance of Jimmy (Garoppolo), so to add somebody you can evaluate a body of work where he was asked to play the position, and a lot of things that do translate in terms of concepts, reading with his feet … We’ll be excited to get to work with him.”
