{"id":902058,"date":"2026-05-26T21:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/902058\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T21:37:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:37:28","slug":"ty-simpson-is-f-them-picks-incarnate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/902058\/","title":{"rendered":"Ty Simpson is \u2018F them picks\u2019 Incarnate"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Rams\u2019 two biggest moves of the offseason, trading for Trent McDuffie<\/a> and drafting Ty Simpson<\/a>, are a continuation of general manager Les Snead\u2019s \u201cF them picks\u201d mentality. Even if Simpson is only the second player drafted in the first round by the Rams in the last 10 years, he represents the \u201cF them picks\u201d strategy, which is to use first round picks as a weapon instead of as a crutch, better than anybody.<\/p>\n

So far Snead has proven, through two Super Bowls and seven playoff trips in the last nine years, that \u201cF them picks\u201d works for him. Having two first round picks this year and then trading one for McDuffie and using the other on a quarterback who might not see the field for the next several seasons, just reinforces the Rams\u2019 mentality to not rely on first round rookies to help Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford<\/a> win the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Ty Simpson isn\u2019t a diversion away from that. If anything, Simpson is \u201cF them picks\u201d in the living flesh.<\/p>\n

Ty Simpson not worried about skeptics<\/p>\n

Simpson recently responded to the criticism of L.A.\u2019s decision to draft him at 13, shrugging it off as part of the job:<\/p>\n

\u201cI really didn\u2019t care, to be honest with you,\u201d Simpson told<\/a> Sports Illustrated at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere. \u201cEverybody can have an opinion, but it\u2019s my job to take care of my business.\u201d<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know yet if Simpson will be a good NFL quarterback or not and the fact remains that until his name was called at 13, almost nobody expected him to be drafted that high. Whether it\u2019s criticism of Simpson as a prospect due to various factors like lack of college experience or a disappointing end to his 2025 season at Alabama, or criticism of the Rams because he was drafted well before expectations, few quarterbacks picks in draft history was as surprising as this move.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

And that also emphasizes the \u201cF them picks\u201d mentality:<\/p>\n

Les Snead doesn\u2019t care if he took Ty Simpson \u201ctoo early\u201d because whether it\u2019s at 13 or 33, the general manager just wanted to get a quarterback in the draft who the Rams feel might have the tools to develop into a starter. It doesn\u2019t matter if he goes top-15 or outside of the top-30 to Snead because to him, first round picks are over-valed anyway.<\/p>\n

The Rams \u201cF them picks\u201d for 2027<\/p>\n

It is also \u201cF them picks\u201d to say that the Rams do not think that any first rounder was going to help them win the Super Bowl next season. Sean McVay has flat out said this since the draft, even name dropping Makai Lemon, Kenyon Sadiq, and Rueben Bain as prospects who he does not believe will help the Rams win the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

So instead of drafting a player for 2026, the Rams drafted a player who might not see the field for years.<\/p>\n

Former Rams CB Aqib Talib<\/a> said on The Arena podcast on Tuesday that he believes Stafford is viewed as L.A.\u2019s starting quarterback for at least two more years:<\/p>\n

But Simpson sees the time he gets to spend behind Stafford, whether it\u2019s one year or longer, as a \u201cbig advantage\u201d for his career<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really, really cool to, one, be in the room with Matthew, who has done it at a high level for so long, and then see it from a wide receiver standpoint with Davante and Puka<\/a>,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cAnd Davante especially, because of him being similar to Matthew, but I think both of those guys are two guys who are one of the greatest at their positions. The fact that I can watch both of them at the same time on my team, it\u2019s a big advantage for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snead and McVay don\u2019t think like other regimes. The ones who believe that a first round rookie will be able to help them save their jobs or reach the playoffs.<\/p>\n

For one, Snead and McVay have long-term security in L.A.. The only person who could fire McVay in the next five years would be McVay. He\u2019s not going anywhere. And the same could be said about Snead.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

With that kind of security, the Rams felt like \u201cWhy not?\u201d when it came to taking a quarterback prospect over anyone else. Even if he has lower odds of developing into a starter than a receiver or a defensive player or someone else \u2014 and this is indisputable, as all QBs have lower odds of starting \u2014 their jobs are safe. Look at Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch.<\/p>\n

Since when did they get fired because of Trey Lance?<\/p>\n

The Rams may not reap the rewards they hope to get by drafting Ty Simpson, or they could look like geniuses in two or three years. The point is that to them, it doesn\u2019t matter. The outcome of the Simpson pick is not what they care about. They care about winning the Super Bowl. When it comes to who they pick in the first round, the message is clear:<\/p>\n

\u201cF that\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Rams\u2019 two biggest moves of the offseason, trading for Trent McDuffie and drafting Ty Simpson,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[12560,390,7,3308,1014,58,2444,2611,32,6,1074,424,3307,4223,20708],"class_list":["post-902058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-rams","tag-aqib-talib","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-football","tag-les-snead","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesrams","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-nfl","tag-puka","tag-rams","tag-sean-mcvay","tag-trent-mcduffie","tag-ty-simpson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116643040070109919","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902058","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=902058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}