The Los Angeles Rams made the most forward-looking pick of the 2026 first round, trading up to No. 13 to draft Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson — a quarterback they don't need to play in 2026.
That's the entire point. Simpson was, to some evaluators, the best long-term quarterback prospect in the class — the player a faction of the draft community preferred to Fernando Mendoza before the Raiders took Mendoza first overall. Landing him at 13, with the runway to learn behind a veteran rather than getting thrown to the wolves as a Day 1 starter, is close to the ideal developmental setup for a young passer.
It's also a luxury most teams can't afford. Quarterback-needy franchises draft for now and live with the growing pains. The Rams, with their window still open, get to draft for later — to identify their next franchise passer a year or two early and bring him along without the pressure of a lost season riding on his rookie reps.
The risk is the cost: trading up for a quarterback you won't play ties up capital and roster flexibility on a bet that won't pay off for a couple of seasons. But if Simpson is what his believers think he is, the Rams will have solved the hardest problem in football — succession at quarterback — before it became a crisis.
For our full verdict on the Rams' trade-up and the rest of Round 1, see the 2026 Round 1 Grades.