After a somewhat controversial first-round draft pick, Los Angeles Rams‘ fans have made their opinions loud about general manager Les Snead’s decision to draft Ty Simpson. Many of these fans have not come to support the 13th overall pick.
Fans felt as if their first-round pick was wasted. Some wondering how the selection of Simpson fit the mold of the “win-now” attitude.
With franchise quarterback and 2025 NFL MVP Matthew Stafford coming off the best season of his 17-year career, fans expected Snead to load up the Rams’ roster with new weapons to secure a trip to Super Bowl LXI.
However, that’s not what happened.
Among all the discourse about the Rams’ pick, former Rams legend, quarterback Jim Everett, came to the support of this decision.
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Jim Everett was drafted third-overall in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers–now Texans–before getting traded to the Los Angeles Rams before the start of the season.
Everett spent eight years of his 12-year career in Los Angeles. He collected a Pro-Bowl appearance in 1990 and was the back-to-back passing touchdown leader in ’88 and ’89.
29 years into his retirement, Everett is still showing his support of the Rams organization.
A week after the Rams drafted Ty Simpson as the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Everett took to X to explain why this selection isn’t so bad after all.
“Man, everybody’s flipping bad draft grades at the Rams taking Ty Simpson at 13… but I’m here zagging hard,” Everett wrote. “Played 12 years in this league & this move feels smart as hell. Stafford dropped a MVP season, now you grab a young gun with legit arm talent with McVay smarts to sit behind him & learn? That’s how teams keep the window open long-term without forcing drama. And Simpson has that dog in him. Then next year when others teams are drafting 1st rd QBs, better players drop to pick 32. Next level chess.”
Everett has a point. Head coach Sean McVay is often considered an offensive genius amongst other coaches and players throughout the league.
With Simpson under the wing of a potential future hall of fame quarterback and an offensively gifted head coach, the Rams could be setting themselves up for many seasons to come.
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In a press conference with Sean McVay and Les Snead following Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft, McVay had a less than enthusiastic reaction at the table.
Many fans thought McVay looked “pissed” over the Ty Simpson selection.
Despite McVay’s look of displeasure, one NFL executive thought the Ty Simpson’s pick was “genius,” per The Athletic’s Mike Sando.
“If they planned this to play out the way it did, it was genius,” the exec said.
A different executive further the discussion by explaining the the Rams need a quarterback succession plan given that the fate of Matthew Stafford’s career is unknown past 2026.
“Sean [McVay] runs the show there,” the person said. “He is just using the GM to save face and look good for Matthew [Stafford]. But Matthew has already had doubts about playing. It’s not a stretch that you would draft somebody.”
McKenna Van Gundy McKenna Van Gundy is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. She spent two years as a sports contributor for her University's newspaper, covering games and writing feature stories on players and coaches. She currently works for the NFL as a digital programming associate and lives in the greater Los Angeles area. More about McKenna Van Gundy
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