Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay is usually extremely open, talkative, and borderline jovial when he gets the opportunity to chat with the media during the NFL Draft. That was not the case after the Rams selected Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The pick wasn't completely unforeseen since every possibility is explored at this point in the draft process, but the Rams have been rumored to possibly have interest in taking quarterbacks in a handful of recent years, and it just hasn't happened.
And when Les Snead and Sean McVay met with the media on Thursday night, McVay was visibly upset both with how short he was in his responses and his body language. It was completely out of character for him, leading to questions about whether or not he actually wanted this pick to happen.
Sean McVay makes strong statements about Los Angeles Rams being Matthew Stafford's team after Ty Simpson pick
#Ramshouse HC Sean McVay On whether Ty Simpson was there first target or whether other players were in consideration? : “Let’s make one thing clear, this is Matthew's team. You get a chance to be able to address the backup quarterback. We've got Stetson. We've talked about the… pic.twitter.com/rjdBhJSFQD
— Nick Hamilton (@NickHamilton213) April 24, 2026
Even the call from the Rams to Ty Simpson where McVay talked to him for the first time, just felt like a very awkward interaction. Simpson is experiencing the biggest moment of his football career up to this point, and McVay is completely detached from the moment emotionally.
McVay has receipts from before the draft indicating that he likes Ty Simpson as a prospect, but he also said to Kay Adams less than a month ago that she had probably watched him more than he had at that point.
Rams HC Sean McVay on Ty Simpson...
— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) March 30, 2026
hmmmm 🤔 pic.twitter.com/xoUvxqyrHQ
The way this comes across is very simple: McVay does not seem to be in favor of this pick in the slightest. He's very clearly upset, and he can't even hide it.
But it's his comments in the quote above that make his stance on the pick very clear. He has no interest in talking about quarterback controversies or drumming up any reason for anyone to think this pick is an indictment on Matthew Stafford in any way.
“Let’s make one thing clear, this is Matthew's team. You get a chance to be able to address the backup quarterback. We've got Stetson. We've talked about the importance of Jimmy [Garoppolo]. To be able to add somebody that you can evaluate a body of work where he was asked to play the position and a lot of things that do translate in terms of concepts, reading with his feet, some of the different things in the drop back in the play action game and the movement game.”
- Sean McVay on Rams QBs
There's a lot of context to this whole situation. McVay has already won a Super Bowl with the Rams, and they are close to winning a second. Taking a quarterback in the 1st round as an eventual successor might be a wise long-term plan, but it also could bite you badly by affecting the chemistry of a locker room.
We saw Aaron Rodgers play out of his mind when the Packers drafted Jordan Love, so perhaps Stafford will respond accordingly. But that doesn't mean there's not also a possibility of Stafford being negatively impacted by this decision, playing and operating under a constant awareness that the Rams are ready to move on whenever he shows signs of decline.
You can't blame McVay for being upset when you put yourself in his shoes. And even if he does like Ty Simpson as a prospect, he might not have loved the idea of using a 1st-round pick on him with needs elsewhere as he tries to push his team over the top.