McVay still undecided on Stafford’s backup

After getting through the third and final dress rehearsal before the Rams kick off Week 1 in Australia, McVay said he won’t be “pigeon-holding” himself into any decision just yet. Rookie Ty Simpson and fourth-year vet Stetson Bennett have both performed well for the Rams this preseason, with Bennett sitting out Thursday’s game against the Chargers. The decision to sit Bennett on Thursday, coupled with the 62 snaps he saw in the preseason to Simpson’s 111, could be a signal as to which way McVay is leaning at this point, although he is on record saying we shouldn’t read too much into that. Regardless, the good news for McVay and Rams fans is that Matthew Stafford is healthy and will hopefully be under center for all 17 of the Rams’ games this season as he looks to defend his crown as the reigning league MVP.

Simpson sat the entire first half of Saturday’s game and didn’t get on the field until midway through the third quarter, thanks to a long opening drive by the Saints after halftime that ended in a pick-six by the Rams’ defense that immediately gave the ball back to New Orleans. In the 34-0 win, Simpson wasn’t asked to do too much. He dropped back to pass on 14 of his 26 offensive snaps and stuck mostly to short completions, as only three of his attempts on the day traveled 10 or more air yards. Both Simpson and Stetson Bennett, who started this game, will see extensive work in next week’s game against the Chargers before the real games begin in Week 1 with the Rams playing “host” to the 49ers in Australia.

Simpson played all but two drives for the Rams in this one, as Sean McVay gave his rookie first-rounder an extended first taste of NFL action. Simpson played about as clean of a game as one could have hoped for, avoiding sacks and turnovers while leading his team on three scoring drives. Simpson’s first touchdown pass came on a screen pass to running back Dean Conners, who took it into the end zone for the score. Later, Simpson connected with Conners on a two-yard score after he found a hole between two defenders to fit the ball into. We would expect Simpson to see another lengthy outing in next week’s game against the Saints.

McVay added that he was undecided on whether presumed second-string quarterback Stetson Bennett would play in the team’s first preseason game, hinting at the potential for Simpson to see the bulk of the work against the Chiefs. The team selected Simpson with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft with a clear intent on developing him into an heir apparent under Matthew Stafford, meaning it could be another two years until he takes the field as the starting quarterback considering Stafford recently signed an extension that ties him to the Rams through the 2027 season. Either way, it appears likely that Simpson will get his first taste of play at the NFL level when the Rams face off against the Chiefs Saturday.

Atkins doesn’t seem impressed with Bennett (who has “fallen victim to a couple of greedy mistakes”) or Ty Simpson (“isn’t going downfield much”) early in camp and suggests that the unsigned Jimmy Garoppolo could just be a phone call away if Simpson isn’t able to win the QB2 job. We’ll see what happens, but Garoppolo lingering as a free agent could keep some upside injury runouts off the table for Simpson this year.

The contract comes fully guaranteed and includes a $14.94 million signing bonus and a fifth-year option. Simpson should immediately challenge for the primary backup role behind veteran starter Matthew Stafford, the latter of whom recently signed a one-year extension that ties him to the Rams through the 2027 season. It appears as if Simpson will learn behind Stafford for a couple seasons before hopefully ascending to a franchise quarterback in a Sean McVay offense.

With Matthew Stafford likely to have another limited training camp as he manages a back issue for the second straight year, rookie No. 13 pick Ty Simpson and former fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett are battling for the backup role. Though the team wants Jimmy Garoppolo back, the vet is mulling retirement, leading to one of these two unproven arms to be thrust into the backup quarterback role. Atkins reports Bennett took reps first in Stafford’s two missed practices in minicamp but neither Bennett nor Simpson “were able to stand out ahead of the other.” The Rams consider the backup role a significant void “with Stafford’s need to take time off and with the risk from each time Stafford takes a hit”, according to Atkins. A season in which Stafford misses time due to injury already decreases the Rams’ contention odds and an unprepared Simpson or Bennett as QB2 would be costly. Both will have time for developmental reps in camp and Simpson is worth rostering in Dynasty fantasy football formats.

Stafford’s degenerative back issue cost him almost all of training camp last year, yet he “returned and cast those fears aside with the best season of his life.” The Rams have reportedly realized how well the time off served Stafford, as a “critical form of load management,” and plan to do some of that again this year. Per Atkins, this has been the plan for some time, and it explains why the Rams tried to sign veteran QBs like Jimmy Garoppolo and Kirk Cousins, “and why they valued the backup role enough to help justify spending the No. 13 pick on QB Ty Simpson.” In other words, don’t be alarmed if we see Simpson taking a few first-team reps this summer. Stafford remains a locked-in QB1. However, we will, of course, track all of his notable offseason developments here at Rotoworld.

The SEC coach, speaking to ESPN anonymously about the 2026 quarterback class, said he was surprised Simpson was the 13th player off the draft board but compared him favorably to Matthew Stafford, who will remain LA’s starter in 2026. “It’s a great fit for him from a system standpoint, and who he’s going to be behind for a year,” the SEC coach said. “There’s a lot of similarities [with Stafford]. [The pick] was the biggest [surprise], a guy who didn’t have a ton of starts, but when he played, he played well. His long game is going to be really good.” Not every college coach was bullish on Simpson’s NFL prospects. One SEC defensive coordinator said it was more difficult to prepare for Jalen Milroe than it was to get ready to face Simpson. “He’s not ready to go be a starter in the NFL right now, he’s got work to do,” the coordinator told ESPN.

This should put to bed any rumors that McVay was caught off guard by the Rams taking Simpson with the 13th overall pick in the 2026 draft. “They wanted to make it private and didn’t want people to know that they were interested,” Simpson told ESPN Radio on Monday. Simpson said he was told by members of the Rams organization not to tell anyone the team was interested in taking him as an heir apparent to Matthew Stafford, who will start for LA in 2026 and possibly 2027. That McVay hosted hours-long top-secret meeting with Simpson likely means he’s fully bought into the rookie as the future of the Rams. Simpson, 23, could spend his first two NFL seasons on the bench, however.