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New Rams QB Ty Simpson ready to learn behind Matthew Stafford

April 25, 2026

INGLEWOOD — Not many in the NIL era are willing to wait it out in college, sitting and learning but not playing, not seeing the field. Most enter the transfer portal and go on their way to what they hope will be greener pastures and more playing time.

But not Ty Simpson. The quarterback sat for three years at Alabama, biding his time, doing things the old-fashioned way before he got his chance to start as a redshirt junior. Part of it was a desire to stick things out with his teammates. But he also felt like it was the best decision to prepare him to extend his career.

“I wanted to make sure that whatever I did was going to benefit me to be an NFL player. Staying at Alabama, I knew the infrastructure that we had there was always going to set me up to play in the NFL,” Simpson explained Friday. “The SEC is the best conference in football. … Being able to get to play those type of games and play in those big moments is just going to prepare you for the NFL.”

Simpson’s patience was rewarded Thursday when the Rams selected him with the 13th overall pick in the NFL draft. And as he prepares for the next step of his career as a starting quarterback in the league, he’ll need to lean on that patience and perspective again.

The 23-year-old quarterback will again be asked to sit to begin his Rams tenure, this time behind reigning league MVP Matthew Stafford. The 38-year-old has one year left on his contract, but head coach Sean McVay has said he thinks it’s possible the veteran sticks around for another year or two beyond that, and that the Simpson pick won’t impact ongoing contract negotiations with Stafford.

But Simpson won’t mind, given that it is Stafford he has been afforded the opportunity to learn behind.

“I can’t wait to talk to Matthew,” Simpson said, in a blue suit with a Rams hat, his family off to the side as he met with the L.A. area media for the first time. “Matthew always plays on time and he always plays great with his feet. He doesn’t flinch. And so that’s something to where I can’t wait to see him in action and see how he prepares in practice and see when he takes those calculated risks.”

Simpson has actually been something of a student of Stafford and the Rams for some time. At Alabama, his coaches would show him clips of McVay’s offense. From that study, he came to admire Stafford’s control at the line of scrimmage, his ability to check into plays, his footwork to manipulate defenses.

He also saw the ways McVay schemes open Puka Nacua, how he incorporated 13-personnel into the scheme in 2025.

“He’s got the juice, man,” Simpson said after meeting McVay in person for the first time Friday. “He’s a fireball, he loves ball. Like, I’m so blessed to be a part of this organization and have him as a coach because you can really tell that he cares for his players.”

Stafford has yet to make contact, but Simpson said that his wife, Kelly, reached out via Instagram to welcome him to Los Angeles and offer any help to him and his family. So did Rams captain Quentin Lake.

He knows it will take some adjusting, joking Friday that he’s “a redneck in Los Angeles, California. So we’ll see how that goes.” But everything will be a daily process, both in the city and in the facility.

“My plan is to just get better each day. I’m blessed enough to be in the room with a great quarterback room, great coaches, reigning MVP, first-ballot Hall of Famer, the best head coach in football,” Simpson said. “The years that I sat were just as, probably more important than the years that I played because I had to learn how to practice. I had to learn how to study when I wasn’t playing because I didn’t know when that time was going to come. And so whenever that time did come, it was this year that I made the most of it.”

Orange County Register

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New Rams QB Ty Simpson ready to learn behind Matthew Stafford

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