ESPN’s Rece Davis & Mike Greenberg Talk NFL Draft & More with Rich

The Rams using the 13th pick on Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson is the kind of decision that should have stopped the broadcast clock, Mike Greenberg argued on The Rich Eisen Show, sitting alongside ESPN's Rece Davis for their annual draft-week joint appearance.

The debate was sparked by the NFL's faster pacing on night one, which both broadcasters said forced editorial compromises. Davis, who hosts ABC's draft coverage with a player-journey focus, said his team had to compress vignettes and family interviews. Greenberg, who hosts ESPN's coverage, said most of the night was fine but a handful of picks demanded a pause the format wouldn't grant.

"Ty Simpson just went 13 to the Rams. This is reminiscent of Tommy Maddox getting drafted by Denver and John Elway being all upset about it and Dan Reeves ultimately leaving there," Greenberg said. "The Rams making what was clearly the signature decision of night one, and we had 45 seconds to talk about the impact of it before I hear in my ear, you know, 30."

His half-joking proposal: a golden-buzzer system, where each broadcaster gets one timeout per night to stop the clock and properly dissect a pick. Rich pushed on the mechanics, but Greenberg's underlying argument was sharper than the gimmick. He doesn't think Simpson is a bad player. He thinks the pick is indefensible given Stafford's window.

"It's a terrible pick. It's an absolutely terrible pick by the Rams," Greenberg said. "He may wind up being the greatest player of all time, but they have Matthew Stafford at an age where he is the very definition of year-to-year. They had the best team in the NFL last year and didn't win the whole thing. They literally got, for the most valuable asset they had in this entire exercise of the NFL draft, someone who will contribute zero to their effort to win the Super Bowl next year."

Greenberg invoked the Packers comparison Davis was already weighing. "Brett Favre didn't win any more Super Bowls and neither did Aaron Rodgers," he said. "You should have won more than you did with Favre. You should have won more than you did with Rodgers."

Davis pushed back without quite disagreeing. He said Simpson is the rare college quarterback running a pro-style operation, citing tape of Simpson changing protections and converting a third-and-seven against Georgia. "You don't see this in college. You just don't see it." But Davis stipulated the pick is still a head-scratcher. "I'm a forget them picks kind of thing in the future. Everybody's reconfiguring their roster every year. You got to try to win now. I would have gotten them some more help right now."

The Rams, both agreed, will be Les Snead's track record on trial.