{"id":769187,"date":"2026-02-22T15:31:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/769187\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:31:18","slug":"mel-kiper-jr-says-rams-are-the-best-fit-if-this-2026-qb-slides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/769187\/","title":{"rendered":"Mel Kiper Jr. says Rams are the \u2018best fit\u2019 if this 2026 QB slides"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone’s thoughts on the Los Angeles Rams<\/a>‘ 2026 draft strategy are all over the place. Some believe the Rams will target positions of need like cornerback, offensive line or safety, while others think the Rams should find the heir apparent to Matthew Stafford at quarterback.<\/p>\n

Whatever the Rams decide, how they tackle the Nos. 13 and 29 will be a huge discussion point between now and April’s draft. If the Rams do try to add a quarterback early, the only viable option after Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is Alabama’s Ty Simpson.<\/p>\n

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NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero already noted <\/a>the Rams could target Simpson at No. 13 and ESPN’s Louis Riddick reported<\/a> that the Rams “like” the Alabama quarterback, but it’s unclear if general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay will go down that path.<\/p>\n

Whatever happens, though, ESPN’s NFL draft insider Mel Kiper Jr. is on board with the Rams picking Simpson. He also believes the Rams would be the best fit for Simpson if he remains a first-round quarterback.<\/p>\n

“If you looked at him over those first nine games, getting the ball out, he was letting it rip,” Kiper said this week about Simpson. There’s a lot to like. … So for me, the Rams may be the good fit, the best fit for Ty Simpson if in fact he’s there near the end of the first round.”<\/p>\n

A lot will hinge on what happens early in the draft. If the Rams feel stronger about Simpson, they could pull the trigger earlier to secure their future franchise quarterback. But if they like some of the other prospects more, the need to find Stafford’s backup may be mitigated.<\/p>\n

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Simpson is a big name from a big college that will draw a lot of eyes. But his stock in the draft will be determined over the course of the next few weeks leading into the draft.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Mel Kiper Jr. says Rams are the \u2018best fit\u2019 if this 2026 QB slides<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everyone’s thoughts on the Los Angeles Rams‘ 2026 draft strategy are all over the place. Some believe the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":769188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[7,1014,58,2444,2611,32,6,15,424,3257,20708],"class_list":{"0":"post-769187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-rams","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-los-angeles","10":"tag-los-angeles-rams","11":"tag-losangeles","12":"tag-losangelesrams","13":"tag-matthew-stafford","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-nfl-draft","16":"tag-rams","17":"tag-tom-pelissero","18":"tag-ty-simpson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116115006410544770","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}