FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt’s Biggest Concern for New Rams QB Ty Simpson Is…?

The Los Angeles Rams selected Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson 13th overall in the NFL Draft, and the move has split the room over whether Sean McVay and Les Snead are protecting Matthew Stafford or quietly preparing to replace him. On The Rich Eisen Show, FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt walked through the case for the player and the case against the timing, settling on a concern that has less to do with Simpson's tape than with how few live reps he has actually taken.

"His talent suggests he's a first round player," Klatt said. "I'm fully on board with the evaluation of Ty Simpson. When you watch him throw, he doesn't look like a one-year starter. And what I love about him is that he's an anticipatory thrower." Klatt argued that most college passers are what he called see throws, quarterbacks who need to wait for an opening before pulling the trigger, and that Simpson reads coverages and trusts windows before they fully open.

The concern is the runway. Simpson sat behind starters at Alabama for three years, made 15 starts as a senior, and now lands behind a quarterback coming off one of the best statistical seasons in NFL history. "Let's say he sits for two years and we're going to see him start in 2028," Klatt said. "You're telling me in seven years, 21 to 28, he's got 15 starts. That's concerning. That's a lot of sitting and developing. And you're banking on the fact that he's the son of a coach, grew up in the locker room, and can get better by not playing on the field."

Rich pressed Klatt on whether the Rams should have used the 13th pick to load up around Stafford instead, pointing out that the franchise quarterback is in his 38th year on the planet. Klatt's read of the front office is that McVay and Snead believe their roster problem was on the other side of the ball. "I think Sean and Les look at those matchups with the Seahawks and they say to themselves, our problem was not on offense. Our problem was on defense," Klatt said, citing the trade for cornerback Trent McDuffy as the move that addresses the actual gap.

Klatt left room for regret if the season turns on a missing weapon, name-checking USC receiver Makai Lemon as a player whose spatial awareness over the middle would have fit Stafford the way Cooper Kupp did. "I'm sure that there's a lot of frustration for Matt at this point because he probably wanted that weapon," Klatt said. The draft, he reminded Rich, is not over yet.