When the Los Angeles Rams drafted Ty Simpson 13th overall in the first round a few weeks ago, there were a lot of stunned fans and analysts. Despite the small breadcrumbs linking the Rams to Simpson, few people expected the them to actually take the Alabama quarterback at that spot.
Former Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth understands why the Rams did it, having been in and around the organization since 2017. But he still admits it “shocked (him) that they did actually do it.”
He was on the “Rich Eisen Show” Wednesday and shared his thoughts on the Rams’ decision to draft Simpson.
“Uh, I think no, because the only reason it doesn’t surprise me is – and honestly did not know they were going to pick it – I think for me, when I start to look at, all right, when I’m around the organization the last few years, and I just look at what’s going on with Matthew, at one point not really sure how long he was going to play,” he said. “Then there was last year, kind of the dollar amount and mattered to him and the contract and ‘Hey, do you want to explore and see what’s out there?’ To me, it feels like – not in a negative way – but just Matthew trying to figure out what does he want the back end of his career to look like? How much longer is he going to play? And at some point, the organization, I’m just looking at what the Los Angeles Rams have been under Sean McVay and his leadership with Les Snead and Kevin Demoff and Tony Pastoors and those guys, they have continued to try to, ‘Hey, we are always going to be successful, we are always going all-in to try to win.’ So why would they not be considering, ‘Hey, if we have a high enough pick, why would we not want a quarterback of the future that might not play for four years? But the reality is we’ve got it, so then we can go assemble around it.’”
The reason Whitworth understands Los Angeles’ logic is the known cost of acquiring a quarterback, which can be expensive if you’re not drafting early enough.
“I would say that it shocked me that they did actually do it, but I wasn’t blown away from a building-a-roster standpoint because at some point, you’ve got to have that guy so that you don’t have to go trade three first-round picks next year or whatever it may be to kind of put yourselves behind the eight ball just to get a guy you believe in. If you like this guy enough, why wouldn’t you do it?” he added.
Then there’s the question of how Matthew Stafford feels about this move. After all, he’s in contract negotiations with the Rams himself and is trying to sort out his future with the team, despite being signed through 2026.
Drafting Simpson starts the clock on the Rams’ succession plan, which hasn’t been a question in either of the last two years when Jimmy Garoppolo was the backup.
Whitworth has been in Stafford’s shoes before after the Bengals drafted left tackles in the first two rounds in 2015 after he dared them to do so. He knows what it’s like for the team to draft a future replacement, which the Rams just did with Simpson.
And though Whitworth admits he was mad about the Bengals’ decision, he doesn’t think this will affect Stafford at all or change his mindset.
“That doesn’t do anything to Matthew Stafford. It doesn’t,” he said. “Matthew Stafford will play the game of football in the NFL for as long as Matthew Stafford wants to. You’d be absolutely insane to not want this guy to be your quarterback. And I think the Rams feel the exact same way, and that is that you are going to be the guy here until you don’t want to be the guy here anymore.”
Still, he acknowledges that Stafford probably isn’t happy about it.
“I think Matthew Stafford’s been in that before, he’s known that, ‘Hey, I’ve got to always earn it.’ I don’t think that changes things for him,” he added. “But also doesn’t mean that he’s probably that happy they did it. Great, that’s OK, too. And all those things can be all right and we can all move forward, we can disagree on whether or not it should’ve been done and we can commit to trying to win a Super Bowl together because that’s what we signed up to do in the first place.
“In my situation, that’s the mentality I had. That’s what I’ve shared with him and anybody that’s asked. It doesn’t mean it’s a fun time but this too shall pass and let’s go win a Super Bowl, baby.”
Stafford has yet to speak out about the Rams’ decision to draft Simpson, but we’ll hear from him soon enough. He’s been in attendance for the offseason program and continues to work on a contract extension with the Rams. And soon enough, Simpson will join him in the quarterback rotation at practice.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Andrew Whitworth gives his take on Rams’ shocking decision to draft Ty Simpson
Reporting by Cameron DaSilva, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
