Los Angeles

Rams

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.

No surprise as Forbes was waived before completing his rookie contract. Forbes was a limited — if decent — find for the Rams last year. He’ll play a depth role in 2026 after the offseason additions of Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson.

A hamstring injury impacted Ferguson’s productivity late last season. The Rams’ “13-personnel revolution is here to stay,” which means Ferguson should see a solid snap total if he can win the starting role. Still, it is tough to predict whether a TE1 finish is realistically within his potential range of outcomes right now, given the Rams’ overall deep receiving corps.

The statement comes with positives and negatives. On the one hand, Atkins believes the sixth-round rookie is the favorite to start in three-wide receiver sets. On the other hand, Daniels’ fit is due partially to his blocking ability. Getting on the field is the first step toward fantasy-relevance, though. Daniels is a player to watch closely in the coming months.

Rams veteran RB Kyren Williams is expected to be the “primary third-down back and between-the-tackles runner,” which could get him most of the high-value touches. Atkins did not address whether Corum will get a chance to compete for the two-minute drill role, though. That would be big for him. If Corum does manage to take on half of the backfield touches, though, that should be enough to keep him in the low-end RB2, thanks in part to the Rams’ high-scoring offense.

Atkins still expects Williams to be the starter. Playing on third down and in the two-minute drill gives running backs an edge in PPR formats. Atkins did not specify which back will play in the latter scenario, but we imagine Williams will get the first crack at the gig. If Williams is also set to be the interior runner, it likely means he gets the first chance in the red zone. He out-snapped No. 2 RB Blake Corum in the red zone, 26-6, during the playoffs last year. That said, losing touches to the point of a 50-50 split hurts his upside.

Jones (6’2/238) grew up in Canada and missed his final season of high school football because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without any recruiting buzz, Jones got his collegiate start at the University of Maine, an FCS program. He climbed the ladder to Montana State in year three and caught nine touchdowns en route to an FCS National Championship appearance. That put him on the Power Four radar via the transfer portal where Arkansas took a flyer on him. Jones was electric as a backup in 2025, averaging 27.3 yards per catch while going for 519 yards and four scores. Jones didn’t receive a combine invite and struggled at his Pro Day with a 4.75 40-yard dash. That size/speed combination will likely relegate Jones to strictly H-back duties in the pros. The Rams have decided to create a five-tight end offense and we’re all looking forward to seeing what happens, but Jones isn’t close to the 53-man roster at this point.

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.

Keenan (6’1"/327) was a four-year contributor for Alabama after redshirting in 2025, and he was able to pick up two sacks, 16 tackles and a forced fumble for the Crimson Tide in his redshirt senior season. His size and strength are what gets him drafted, and his quick hands give him a chance to beat interior lineman before a double team can set. He also lacks the burst necessary to be more than a two-down player, and there are concerns about whether or not he can disengage from blocks quickly enough to make plays. The size is intriguing, and Keenan will get a chance to show he can help on the first two downs this summer.

Daniels (6’2”/202) is a sixth-year prospect who made stops at Liberty (2020-2023) and LSU (2024) before finishing his career at Miami in 2025. What Daniels lacks in speed (4.58 40-yard dash), he makes up for with creative route running and an impressive ability to pull off contested catches (62.3 percent contested catch rate, per PFF). He’s a good downfield threat and broke out for 55/1,067/10 in 2023 at Liberty, but Daniels’ production fell off in his final two seasons when the level of competition was ramped up while playing for LSU and Miami. Given what we saw from Daniels in his post-Liberty career, it seems unlikely he will look like the player we saw in his breakout season when he’s facing NFL-caliber talent on every snap. He has very limited experience on special teams, returning just three punts in his career and never logging a single snap on the kick/punt coverage units. Despite his sixth-round pedigree, he’ll face an uphill battle to make a 53-man roster in his rookie season.