Ty Simpson has been discussed more than any other prospect from the 2026 draft. Whether it was his secret meetings with the Los Angeles Rams or Sean McVay’s grumpy press conference demeanor or the fact that he was picked earlier than expected, he’s been in headlines a lot.
The Rams are excited about his potential, despite McVay’s mood suggesting otherwise on the first night of the draft. The head coach saw plenty to like about Simpson’s game while watching his college tape before the draft.
McVay was on “Bussin’ With The Boys” this week and explained what jumped out from Simpson’s film, beyond just the obvious strengths of his game.
“This is a guy that based on the film and some of the vetting that Les and his group did, you project this guy to – whenever Matthew decides (to retire) – potentially be a starting-caliber quarterback. And you like the body of work because of the way he was asked to play the position,” McVay began.
McVay admits it was a small sample size, with Simpson only starting 15 games at Alabama, but that made it an easier evaluation for the Rams because of everything that was crammed into those 15 games.
Simpson played in a pro-style offense where he was asked to do more than take a shotgun snap, go through his first two reads and take off if nothing was there. McVay liked that Simpson was asked to do a seven-step drop with a play-action fake and fit the ball into a window at the second level.
“Is it a short sample size? Yeah, it is,” McVay said. “But it’s easier to evaluate that short sample size because you’re evaluating all parts of, hey, in the drop-back pass game, you’re watching the three-step, the five-step, the seven-step. The way the field is distributed. The types of coverage contours he’s seeing in the SEC are similar to what he would see. He’s reading with his feet, with a timing and rhythm. He’s redirecting protections. He’s getting under center and throwing play-actions off seven-step one-hitch or eight-step one-hitch timing and anticipating second-level in-cuts with front-pad throws. Making a little bit of throws off-schedule and you’re saying, ‘I like this.’”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Simpson at Alabama. He was great in the first half of the season but he struggled in the second half and still managed to get the Crimson Tide into the SEC title game and College Football Playoff.
That came after two years of sitting and waiting behind Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe before earning the starting job in 2025. McVay says it would’ve been easy for Simpson to transfer to another school, but he stuck to his commitment to Alabama.
And in the face of adversity, “he didn’t flinch,” McVay says, showing excellent leadership qualities when teammates dropped passes or whiffed on blocks.
“I like that it wasn’t easy,” he continued. “I like that he had to wait his time at Alabama and the easy thing, especially nowadays, would’ve been to run away. I like that he didn’t. They lose to Florida State and the sky is falling and they find a way to have some resolve and they get in the SEC championship and there’s a lot of good things in the midst of it. I like the way that he responded when guys would drop balls and he didn’t flinch. Or when guys would give up an immediate free-runner and didn’t say a word except for, ‘Man, where can I be better?’ Those were the things that the tape communicated to me.”
Simpson may not have played many games in college, but he played in a lot of high-stress environments at an SEC powerhouse. That, McVay says, will prepare him for what he’ll experience in the NFL.
“That was what I liked was Alabama, you talk about high pressure where everybody loves football,” he said. “You get an opportunity and you’ve finally now earned the right to start and you play Florida State, and that was a big deal in Tuscaloosa. And then you look at when he went on a little bit of a run but that SEC football, and a lot of these college atmospheres nowadays, you get a chance to really feel what it’s like to handle a lot of those pressure situations that come up at this level.”
McVay admitted it wasn’t an easy decision to take Simpson over some other players, and had prospects like Makai Lemon, Kenyon Sadiq or Rueben Bain Jr. ensured the Rams a Super Bowl appearance, he would’ve signed up for one of those guys. But that’s not how it works, so the Rams prepared for the future by taking Simpson.
It may not have been the conventional pick, but the Rams are excited about his future in L.A.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Sean McVay shares what he liked about Ty Simpson’s small sample size at Alabama
Reporting by Cameron DaSilva, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
