The Los Angeles Rams’ decision to draft Ty Simpson 13th overall confused a lot of people. That includes Robert Griffin III, a former first-round quarterback himself.
Griffin recently spoke with Doug Farrar of Athlon Sports about Simpson and Matthew Stafford, saying he didn’t initially understand the pick but trusts the vision of Sean McVay and Les Snead.
“I just didn’t understand the pick at the time,” Griffin told Farrar. “The Rams are in a position where they can win the Super Bowl this year and Ty Simpson is not going to aid in that unless something catastrophically wrong happens to Matthew Stafford, which none of us want to happen. So, that was a confusing thing for me. But at the end of the day, they believe that he’s a quarterback that can help them win whenever Matthew Stafford is done. And I’m going to trust them in their evaluation process.”
He also believes that Stafford should thank Simpson for his new contract because the Rams gave him $55 million “basically to say, ‘You’re still our guy. We still love you.’”
That’s not entirely true, of course. The Rams were already going to give Stafford a raise with a contract extension long before they drafted Simpson. It just so happens that the deal got done after the draft instead of before it.
As a prospect, Griffin actually likes what he saw from Simpson at Alabama. He believes the young quarterback throws with good accuracy and anticipation, adding that his arm talent is “actually undervalued.”
He doesn’t think the Rams are going back to a “lesser-talented Jared Goff-style quarterback,” as Farrar put it in his question.
“And when you talk about Ty Simpson the player, you talked about throwing with anticipation. He does that an extremely high level,” Griffin said. “You talk about making NFL throws. He does that an extremely high level. He played in the SEC, at Alabama, where the expectations are extremely high. So the expectation of him coming in, whenever Matthew Stafford decides to retire, probably won’t affect him. I don’t think that they’re returning to a lesser quarterback. I think Ty Simpson’s arm talent is actually undervalued.”
We probably won’t find out whether the Rams were right or wrong about this pick for several years, especially now that Stafford has a real chance to continue playing in 2027. But they feel strongly about him as a quarterback, even if he won’t contribute right away in Los Angeles.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Robert Griffin III talks up Ty Simpson and his ‘undervalued’ trait
Reporting by Cameron DaSilva, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
