The teams’ starting quarterbacks, Michael Penix Jr. and Patrick Mahomes respectively, are recovering from late-season ACL tears. Each is aiming to return in Week 1, but their offseason participation is seriously in question.
Advertisement
So Tagovailoa and Fields probably hope to acclimate to their new teammates in more than just the locker room and meetings. Their incorporation into new schematic principles and terminology will probably not be limited to mental repetitions.
Tagovailoa and Fields should get plenty of preseason and offseason snaps, including reps with the starters.
Ty Simpson, selected 13th overall by the Los Angeles Rams last week in the NFL Draft, could find a similar opening.
The Los Angeles Rams do not have an injured quarterback at the helm. And reigning MVP Matthew Stafford isn’t fighting to keep his role after the Rams selected the Alabama quarterback with their first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Advertisement
But Stafford’s preseason limitations due to an aggravated disc in his back last summer, and his subsequent MVP campaign, taught the Rams a lesson.
Expect them to once again limit the 38-year-old’s preseason and offseason work.
And so expect Simpson to get a chance to acclimate on the field soon.
Rams general manager Les Snead addressed that reality last month at the league’s annual meetings in a conversation with Yahoo Sports about the challenges of investing in the immediate future while planning for a longer-term outlook.
Los Angeles is realistic, Snead said, that when “you go through a quarterback transition, that’s a cliff.” The club hopes that coaching Stafford in the offseason can, first, support his late-season performance and, second, support the development of the depth chart for its post-Stafford era.
Advertisement
“The way we handle Matthew, at least our backup quarterback will get more reps,” Snead told Yahoo Sports on March 30. “But it will happen during organized team activities. It will happen during some parts of training camp. And then once the season starts, that’s the hard part.”
Without 2025 Rams QB2 Jimmy Garoppolo, Simpson will compete with 2023 fourth-round pick Stetson Bennett to assign snaps. Bennett may have an advantage in understanding the offense early, but head coach Sean McVay reiterated before the draft that “Stetson is considered a backup” compared to how he viewed Garoppolo as the starting quarterback.
It strains credulity to think the Rams would select Simpson 13th overall without believing Simpson will be, if not already, a starter. And therefore, an opportunity awaits during Stafford’s cautionary period.
Advertisement
“The most important thing is, when you go into year 18, how can we keep you as fresh physically, emotionally and mentally, basically, as fresh as possible?” McVay said at a news conference. “(Using our other quarterbacks) allows us to operate in a way where you’re saying, ‘Okay, hey, what’s the priority? How do we make our guy feel as good as possible?’
“And being able to do it without letting it fall too much.”
“There are moments when I think he is better than Fernando (Mendoza)”
Creating a succession plan for any taxpayer, let alone an MVP and Super Bowl-winning quarterback, is a complicated balancing act.
Advertisement
But the Rams’ belief in their legitimacy to compete for the Super Bowl fuels their belief that a potentially strong 2027 first-round quarterback class will be out of reach by the time Los Angeles enters the draft board next year (they hope to pick at No. 32). The most accomplished quarterback currently hitting free agency in 2027 is Baker Mayfield, who the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will likely extend before then.
All of this made the path to a Stafford successor next year murky. And while Stafford has confirmed he will play in 2026, his status in 2027 and beyond remains to be seen.
Add to that a young, talented staff that includes Puka Nacua, Jared Verse, Kobie Turner, Byron Young and Braden Fiske? The Rams will have to make decisions regarding second contracts. Consider that 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward received a four-year, $48.8 million contract that averages $12.2 million per year (the split of salary impacts is malleable). Compare that to the veteran quarterback market, where 10 quarterbacks have received contracts averaging more than $50 million per season? The Rams want to extend their Super Bowl window by positioning themselves financially to keep their young stars beyond the Stafford era.
So the Rams believed that drafting Simpson has the potential to answer a big question mark as early as 2027. The Rams also aren’t naïve enough to feel confident they won’t need Simpson in 2026.
Advertisement
“Sometimes you can draft someone and it’s a little bit for the future and you have unforeseen wear and tear due to an injury, and all of a sudden the delayed becomes the immediate,” Snead told reporters at a pre-draft news conference. “So you’re always balancing that with every pick. And I think, as you mentioned, that’s subjective as far as where our roster sits and things like that.”
An AFC talent evaluator told Yahoo Sports that they graded Simpson similarly to how Bo Nix did upon coming out. The volume of experience of the two quarterbacks differs drastically — Nix started 61 games in college, compared to Simpson’s 15 — but Simpson’s best moments last season reflected NFL-caliber play.
“There are quite a few really good movies about him this year,” the AFC evaluator said. “There are moments when I think he is better than Fernando (Mendoza) when I see Fernando.”
Advertisement
Simpson ranked third among quarterbacks on Yahoo Sports’ 2026 NFL Draft consensus big board from draft experts Nate Tice and Charles McDonald. But he ranked as their No. 55 overall prospect, compared to Mendoza at No. 2 overall and LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier at No. 34.
Will that be enough for Simpson to get second snaps behind Stafford and first-team snaps when he’s on mandatory veteran rest? Snead talked about the challenges of earning a spot on a perennial playoff team.
“It’s usually very difficult for any newbie to get into an ecosystem like ours that has the efficacy,” Snead said. “We’ve won before, so it’s hard for those players to come in and gain equity. We try to find players who give us an advantage and then put them into the ecosystem. We let them gain equity. And at the right time, they’ll come on the field.”
Why Simpson seems to fit perfectly in Los Angeles
McVay explained his dull draft day expression the next day.
Advertisement
“The demeanor would have been stoic in nature because you’re excited, but … it’s Matthew’s football team,” McVay said Friday, in part. “Whenever the time comes for (Simpson) to have the opportunity to be Matthew’s successor, it will be on Matthew’s terms.”
If Simpson needs to wait a year or three before seeing significant action in live games, the experience will feel familiar.
In the transfer-happy era of college football, Simpson made the rare decision to remain at Alabama for his entire college career. He didn’t attempt more than 25 passes until his fourth and final season. He then completed 64.5% (305 of 473) of his attempts for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Simpson led the SEC in completions and attempts, ranking second in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Alabama went 11-4 in his 15 starts.
Advertisement
The 6-foot-2, 208-pound quarterback drew concern from some evaluators who believe his thinner build contributed to his 2025 injuries and could increase his risk of injury in the future. But even in his one-year sample, Simpson impressed the Rams with his processing ability, his mobility, his versatility from dropped passes to plays, and the timing and pace with which he threw.
His late-season performance dipped from its start in 2025, which evaluators attribute to a combination of playing through an injury and playing in tougher competition. In any case, Simpson is aware that he has room for improvement.
“There’s not a throw I feel like I can’t make on the field,” Simpson said, “but I also have to make sure I throw it on time.”
Stafford’s health permitting, Simpson will not see immediate action in the regular season. But if so, the Rams believe Ryan Grubb’s offense at Alabama last season was built on similar principles to what McVay asks of his quarterback.
Advertisement
And first, expect Simpson to receive opportunities over the next few months to immerse himself on and off the field. He’s entering a team with the oldest starting quarterback in the league under contract. (Aaron Rodgers can change that if the 42-year-old signs his offer in Pittsburgh or another deal.) There are practice benefits that come with that in spring and summer.
And once the regular season rolls around, Simpson will have opportunities to learn as the reigning MVP takes in the film, acts on his instincts and manipulates defenses with his footwork.
Simpson knows how to play the waiting game after three years at Alabama. You’ll start by focusing on improvement rather than expectations.
Advertisement
“I learned that from Coach (Nick) Saban about how if you have expectations, you’re always destined to fail,” Simpson said. “If I come here and say, ‘Well, I want to win rookie of the year,’ well, Matthew Stafford just won MVP. That’s going to be a failure. So my plan is just to get better every day.
“I just want to get better every day to eventually have a long career like Matthew.”
Reach 18 seasons, like Stafford?
Somewhere, a 2043 class first-round quarterback will be waiting.