FOX Sports’ Greg Olsen Weighs In on the Rams’ Ty Simpson Gamble

Greg Olsen, on Rich's show, defended the Rams' decision to spend the 13th overall pick on Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson and read Sean McVay's muted body language at the introductory press conference as a courtesy to Matthew Stafford rather than a tell. Rich, leaning on Olsen's combine experience, asked him to handle the pick the way NFL Network typically does, with patience.

'Certainly after every selection, after every draft, you know, every NFL front office, we never have seen a coach or a front office personnel GM president ever get up there and say, you know, the draft, it didn't fall the way we wanted,' Olsen said. 'I think everyone exits the draft with a renewed sense of optimism. I think that, you know, in the big picture is a big reason why the NFL is king.'

On McVay specifically, Olsen rejected the idea that the Rams head coach was anything but on board. 'Here's a guy who's a highly animated, super engaging, big personality, and then him and Les sit in front of the media following the Ty Simpson pick and, you know, he seems a little bit more subdued than we're traditionally used to seeing him,' Olsen said. 'But in his mind, he's doing it out of respect for, you know, Matthew Stafford, the MVP and a guy that just had the season of his career at this stage. Could it be seen as a jab to Stafford? So, I think in McVay's mind, that's what he was trying to portray. And it certainly makes sense.' Olsen pointed to Green Bay's Jordan Love behind Aaron Rodgers, Rodgers behind Favre, and Patrick Mahomes as proof the model works.

Rich pushed back on the developmental clock and the McVay-doesn't-play-rookies reality, then steered the conversation to Carson Beck landing in Arizona, where he might be the first quarterback from this class to start. Olsen used the pick to make a broader point about young quarterbacks taken at the top of day two. 'Where it gets really tricky is when you become the top pick of the lower mid rounds because you don't get the luxury of being, you know, the 25th pick, the 20th pick in the first round,' Olsen said. 'Do you want to be the young quarterback that's being thrust into a situation where maybe the roster around you is not real strong? We've seen it be a detriment to the future career of a young player, but we've also seen young players become better. So, it's a very case-by-case basis, and you have to trust that these coaches and organizations know the personality traits of the player and which box they fall in.'