InvaderRam wrote:

i’m still not convinced it was the right decision. just a wait and see approach at this point.

I am. They like the guy and they treated the 13th pick as a luxury for the future. They got the pick because they traded the 2025 #1 rather than take Ferguson there, and then got Ferguson anyway.

The Rams are not conventional with draft picks.

They trade up. They trade down. They trade away picks for both name players (Stafford) and guys who hadn’t come through yet (Dotson). And they don’t care if they “reach.” They can afford to “reach” because they have a high powered offense that does not include a single player they drafted themselves in the first round. And that’s because they score higher in the lower rounds than pretty much anybody.

Just my 2 cents. No doubt we will be discussing this issue for years!

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"Drafting a QB to be your backup at 13 is rich people problems."

More from @joelklatt on the Rams selecting Ty Simpson in the first round of the NFL Draft and what it means moving forward. pic.twitter.com/XdNNgmsA7t

— The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football on FOX Pod (@JoelKlattShow) April 27, 2026

Albert Breer: https://www.si.com/nfl/albert-breer-nfl-draft-takeaways-rams-ty-simpson

Ty Simpson stands out on tape

The Rams saw things some others didn’t in Ty Simpson, and we’ll see how that turns out. And what they saw, for the most part, was based plainly on Simpson’s body of work.

That’s not a mistake either. That’s by design.

Sean McVay’s tape study began a week after the Super Bowl, and his method, when he gets going on the college quarterbacks, is to have his first exposure to them come on the film, and the film alone. Simpson was the first guy he watched. What he saw was eye-opening. Yes, the body of work—15 starts—was short. But as he and the Rams came to see it, those 15 starts had more translatable work in them than other college QBs may compile in 30.

Alabama OC Ryan Grubb put a lot on Simpson, and the Rams felt like the beneficiaries of it in the evaluation. Simpson was playing under center and off play-action. He was redirecting protections and going through full-field progressions, and activating the same sort of concepts he’d have to in their offense. You saw him in quick game and off five- and seven-step timing. You saw an NFL rhythm-and-timing passer. Drew Brees set the recent standard for that genre, and they saw Simpson, stylistically, fitting that sort of mold.

No one’s saying Simpson is going to be Brees, to be clear. But if you want to see a path to becoming a high-end NFL quarterback, that’s the one that Simpson could walk.

But maybe most of all, as I’ve heard it, they loved seeing how he got scraped up, and knocked down, and picked himself up. The Tide got beaten up in the season opener against Florida State, a loss that was taken as a referendum on everyone in the program, a year and a half after Nick Saban’s departure. But in that game, Simpson fought to his very last snap, a nine-yard run on fourth-and-10, on which he ran through three tackles. And he rebounded in the weeks to follow, putting on clinics against Wisconsin and Georgia.

Then, there was the way the season came undone, and how Simpson reacted to that. In the Tide’s 10th game, Oklahoma coach Brent Venables blew open a flaw in their empty protection, getting a free runner through consistently and creating a blueprint for others.

The Rams liked how the Bama coaches put a lot on him to begin with, and what the Sooners drew up made things even harder. Simpson kept battling, like an NFL quarterback has to.

And two throws against Auburn brought the whole thing to life.

• The first was on a third-and-4, from the Auburn 6 at the end of the first quarter. Auburn brought six. Inside linebacker Xavier Atkins came clean, and both Tiger edge rushers won quickly, giving Simpson nowhere to step up in the pocket, or to bail from it. Simpson stood in the face of pressure, flicked the ball off his back foot from the 20 to receiver Isaiah Horton, running toward the back left pylon—putting it on his outside shoulder over the top of the coverage, and just past where the corner covering Horton could play it. He knew he’d be open and put a perfect ball on him, off-balance with three defenders in his face.

• The second came with the game tied at 20, and less than four minutes left. Kalen DeBoer showed confidence in Simpson in going for it on fourth-and-2, when he could’ve kicked the go-ahead field goal, and the Auburn defense challenged him right away. The Tide had a stick concept—a two-man route—called to Simpson’s right in a three-by-two look. At the snap, the Tigers had the two receivers to that side covered with three guys. Simpson quickly reset, and got the ball to the third guy in his progression, Horton again running a drag from the opposite side. Not only that, he put the ball on Horton’s front pad, into a short window.

Simpson did that, by the way, on a rough day for the Bama offense, one with a mess of drops from his receivers. He got hit a lot, too. He easily could’ve folded. Instead, he squared his jaw, maintained his body language and kept playing quarterback—which is a key to this, too.

The Rams kept seeing him do just that, and there’s a bit of dying art to playing that way at the college level, which is what made watching Simpson so refreshing for some teams and coaches (and my guess would be that’s what ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky was seeing, too). They could see him reading plays out with his feet, playing with rhythm, getting deep into progressions, anticipating windows coming open and unloading the ball on time.

Now, that’s not to say there wasn’t more work done. The input of the ex-quarterbacks on the staff—Kliff Kingsbury, Dave Ragone and Nathan Scheelhaase—was an invaluable part of the process. The background work was, too, with Crimson Tide sport psychologist Bhrett McCabe allaying concerns over the anxiety Simpson was thought to have battled, telling the Rams that the quarterback was simply a very conscientious kid who cares a lot, while touting his capacity for growth in that area (“He’ll calm down,” he told them) and his resilience.

But where this really began and ended was with what McVay, GM Les Snead and the crew saw on tape, which was a quarterback who could run their offense. Really, it started with the tape, after the reality set in that Jimmy Garoppolo probably wouldn’t return as Matthew Stafford’s backup, all the way back in March. It ended on Thursday, after McVay apprised Stafford of the plan, and the Rams pushed the button on the night’s biggest surprise.

Stafford, to be clear, is still very much the team’s present. And if things work out like that film seemed to show, they’ve now got a lot less to worry about for the future.

zn wrote:

LB Nikhai Hill-Green – Alabama | LA may have found its off-ball pass-defending linebacker. This solid prospect made it a point to play in a wide range of defensive schemes, improving along the way. His pre-draft interview gives off great football-passion vibes

My favorite Rams UDFA signing thus far.

Plays the ball 100mph like a psychopath. Batted balls, just gets involved. Excited to see em work at camp. https://t.co/DVen4vcRwE

— 1st & Tuna 🏈 (@1standtuna) April 26, 2026

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/rams/2026/04/24/rams-keagen-trost-pff-grade-julian-sayin-jeremiyah-love/89787147007/

The Los Angeles Rams addressed their offensive line in the third round on Friday night, selecting Keagen Trost out of Missouri at No. 93 overall. The versatile offensive lineman can play just about any position up front, so he’ll provide depth at multiple spots for the Rams.

He may not have been a highly ranked player by experts, but his performance in 2025 was outstanding. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed just one sack and six total pressures last season, earning a 92.4 offensive grade from the outlet.

The NFL Network broadcast noted that there were only two offensive players in the FBS who were graded higher than Trost in 2025: Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin.

Both were Heisman finalists, and Love was the third overall pick in this year’s draft. That’s the company Trost kept last year.

His run-blocking grade of 91.7 was first among offensive tackles, as was his 92.4 overall grade. He can both pass protect and block in the run game, which makes him a well-rounded offensive lineman who can win at multiple positions.

Zooey wrote:

zn wrote:

Yes Kiper rated him that high. And it’s 39th among players, not rushers:

No, Invader is right. 39th among Edge rushers. From the Kiper link you posted.

My mistake.

Mistakes like that will drop me to 39th among huddle posters.

Anyway I edited out the misleading quotation from the article you originally responded to.

zn wrote:

LB Nikhai Hill-Green – Alabama | LA may have found its off-ball pass-defending linebacker. This solid prospect made it a point to play in a wide range of defensive schemes, improving along the way. His pre-draft interview gives off great football-passion vibes

from https://rollingout.com/2026/04/13/jaguars-nikhai-hill-green-in-nfl-draft/

A linebacker with a resilient college journey

Hill-Green’s path to NFL Draft consideration has been anything but conventional, and that is precisely what makes him such a compelling prospect to evaluate. He launched his college career at the University of Michigan, recording 50 tackles and two tackles for loss in 2021 before an injury in 2022 derailed that chapter and prompted a transfer. Rather than let the setback define him, he moved on to Charlotte, where he rebuilt his momentum and earned third-team All-American Athletic Conference honors in 2023, finishing that season with 73 tackles, nine tackles for loss and two sacks.

His most impressive chapter came in 2024 at Colorado, where he shared the field with current Jaguars players Travis Hunter and B.J. Green. Hill-Green finished that year with 82 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions — numbers that speak to both his instincts and his growth as a player. Across five collegiate seasons and 55 total games, he has constructed a résumé that commands attention from NFL scouts looking beyond the first few rounds of the draft.

… His experience across three programs — Michigan, Charlotte and Colorado — reflects an ability to adapt to new environments and different coaching expectations, a quality that NFL organizations deeply value when assessing late-round prospects.

Beyond his tackle numbers, his two interceptions in 2024 reveal an instinctive feel for the game that extends well beyond standard linebacker duties. That kind of versatility can make him a genuinely useful piece in multiple defensive looks, adding real value as coaches build out their schemes for the upcoming season.

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Rams make a jumble of roster moves immediately after 2026 NFL Draft

Bret Stuter

https://ramblinfan.com/rams-make-jumble-roster-moves-immediately-after-2026-nfl-draft-udfa

With the addition of five drafted rookies, the Los Angeles Rams still need 20 more players to round out their 90-man training camp roster. Ironically, the same team that needed three days at the 2026 NFL Draft to add just five players was wasting no time at signing rookies now that the draft has concluded. And as hinted in a previous article:

“The team’s greatest need for depth after the draft includes defensive backs, offensive linemen, offensive skill players, and defensive players for the trenches.”

LA is a pretty tight group, with many roster spots already claimed by veterans. But this is also a team that has been generous in affording real opportunities to make the team to rookies signed after the draft. In fact, many starters have come from such modest beginnings, including left tackle Alaric Jackson and both linebackers Nate Landman and Omar Speights

Knowing this, it’s always wise to learn something about the newest rumored additions to the roster

QB Matthew Caldwell – Texas | A resilient quarterback who flashed some impressive athleticism at his pro day, Caldwell is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound quarterback who last backed up Arch Manning at Texas.

DT Jalen Logan Redding – Minnesota | A versatile defensive lineman whose superpower is the ability to line up anywhere along the defensive front

CB Nyzeir Fourqurean – Wisconsin | An intriguing big-bodied defensive back who measures 6-foot-1. Fourqurean was incredibly productive, logging 90 tackles in two seasons.

DL Jaxson Moi – Tennessee | A rugged interior defensive lineman, Moi gives a bit of a snarl to the trenches. At 6-foot-2 and 305 pounds, he’s ready to suit up and get to work

RB Dean Conners – Houston | The lone running back (so far) added to the Rams roster, Conners has the type of speed that begs to be trialed in a special teams role.

DT Payton Zdroik – Air Force | This defensive lineman was touted as a sleeper of this draft class, and that could be spot on. He was surprisingly productive, ending with 116 tackles, 29 tackles for a loss, and 14.0 quarterback sacks.

CB Drey Norwood – Missouri | Norwood is a 6-foot-0 cornerback who was a solid pass defender for the Tigers. While he did not jump off the page at any specific area, he proved to be effective in all roles of a cornerback.

OL Austin Blaske – North Carolina | The former Tar Heel is one of the few offensive linemen who has experience at all five positions. His versatility is absolutely what intrigued the team to sign him up.

C Chad Linberg – North Carolina | A teammate of Blaske (above), Linberg offers interior offensive line versatility. And he was a rumored target of the Philadelphia Eagles.

OLB Darryl Peterson – Wisconsin | Clearly, LA recruited Peterson heavily, meeting with him on multiple occasions. And he recorded 6.5 quarterback sacks and 12.5 tackles for a loss in 2025.

WR Nick Anderson – LSU | Despite the lack of production in college, this 6-foot-4, 208-pound receiver out of LSU is tough to ignore. Projected as early as Round 4, he offers size and speed. Unfortunately, injuries interrupted his development, so he’s raw.

CB Al’zillion Hamilton – Fresno State | Despite his 5-foot-11 height, Hamilton is a bona fide ball hawk. If he can learn from Trent McDuffie, LA landed a good one.

TE Rohan Jones -Arkansas | A highly regarded but lightly scouted tight end, Jones hauled in 19 passes for 519 yards and four touchdowns in 2025. Yes, that averages more than 27 yards per reception.

OLB Eddle Walls – Houston | … This 6-foot-4, 250-pound edge rusher lowered the boom on unsuspecting quarterbacks. He’s big enough and productive enough to keep on your radar.

DE Wesley Bailey – Louisville | Another potent edge rusher, Bailey exploded in one season for the Louisville Cardinals in 2025 with 6.0 quarterback sacks and seven tackles for a loss.

LB Nikhai Hill-Green – Alabama | LA may have found its off-ball pass-defending linebacker. This solid prospect made it a point to play in a wide range of defensive schemes, improving along the way. His pre-draft interview gives off great football-passion vibes

DB Nick Andersen – Wake Forest | Well, this could get confusing. A 2nd rookie named Nick Andersen (with an e) is rumored to have signed with LA. This 5-foot-11, 197-pound defensive back is ultra productive. He may have what it takes.

TE Dan Villari – Syracuse | Dan Villari joins a packed tight end room, but he possesses an intriguing background as a former quarterback. He stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 245 pounds, and is compared to LA Rams tight end Davis Allen. He can do it all on offense: Run, pass, and catch. Very interesting rookie prospect who deserves to stay on your radar.

wv wrote:

Probably the only modern smallish QB that really was an outlier was Drew Brees.

When I first started reading your post, I immediately thought of Brees. But then you mentioned him.

Fwiw Joe Montana was 6’2, 200. Purdy is 6’1.

It’s a different era of course but great 6’0 and 6’1 qbs from the past include Bart Starr, Unitas, Fran Tarkenton, Sonny Jurgensen, Len Dawson, Joe Theismann, and Billy Kilmer.

So oh ye, be it known-eth, it has-eth been done-eth.

from https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Max-Klare-TE-Purdue

Scouting Report: Strengths

Loose, fluid athlete who can run the full route tree and bends with ease at the top of his stems to create natural separation from linebackers and safeties alike.

Genuine vertical threat with the speed to climb past second-level defenders on seam routes. He burned safeties at Purdue on those 62-yard and 32-yard chunk plays that changed games.

Excellent production on intermediate and deep targets throughout his career, consistently winning at the catch point and delivering reliable yardage on throws beyond ten yards.

Attacks the ball after the catch with real intent. He turns upfield quickly, reduces angles on pursuing defenders, and fights through arm tackles to squeeze out extra yards.

Reads zone coverage well and has a feel for settling into soft spots rather than drifting through them. Quarterbacks trust where he will be, and he rewards that trust consistently.

Versatile alignment piece who lined up roughly evenly from in-line, slot, and wide positions at Ohio State, giving coordinators a moveable chess piece to exploit matchup advantages.

Showed legitimate growth as a run blocker at Ohio State compared to his Purdue tape. He became more willing to fit up at the point of attack and improved noticeably when blocking on the move.

Multi-sport background and former quarterback experience give him a natural feel for timing, spatial awareness, and how defensive structures try to take away throwing windows.

Scouting Report: Weaknesses

Blocking remains the clear question mark. His hand placement is inconsistent, he gets grabby at the point of attack, and he lacks the anchor strength to sustain against NFL-caliber edge defenders.

Light for the position at 246 pounds with a frame that sits below average among tight end prospects. He will need to add functional mass without sacrificing the athleticism that makes him dangerous.

Ball skills are uneven. He had a noticeable drop issue at Purdue and while the rate improved at Ohio State, he still fights certain throws rather than plucking them cleanly out of the air.

Production and efficiency took a step backward at Ohio State. His yards per route run, average depth of target, and receiving grade all declined, and he failed to stand out at the NFL Combine, where he chose not to run or jump and looked average in pass-catching drills.

Durability is worth monitoring. The 2023 ankle injury cost him most of that season, and his relatively light frame raises questions about how he will hold up absorbing contact from NFL defenders over a full 17-game schedule.

Scouting Report: Summary

Klare is a pass-catching tight end first, and his NFL value will be defined by how quickly an offense can get creative with his alignments. When you watch his Purdue tape from 2024, the picture is clear: this is a guy who can threaten vertically, win on intermediate crossers, and make defenders pay when they guess wrong in zone coverage. His feel for route stems and leverage manipulation is advanced for a college tight end, and his ability to line up from multiple spots gives offensive coordinators real flexibility. The move to Ohio State did not showcase him the same way, but anyone who watched both years of tape understands the production dip had more to do with target share and scheme than regression as a player.

The blocking is the thing that keeps you up at night. At his current weight and with his current technique, he is a liability on early downs when the offense needs to run the ball behind the tight end. He improved during his year in Columbus, no question, and he showed more willingness to get after it in the run game than he ever did in West Lafayette. But “improved” and “ready” are not the same thing. NFL defensive ends will eat him alive if he cannot add 15 pounds of good weight and learn to strike with his hands inside the frame instead of reaching and grabbing. The pass protection numbers were not alarming, but the run blocking tape still makes you wince on too many reps.

The NFL is starving for tight ends who can stress defenses in the passing game from multiple alignments, and Klare fits that mold. His best landing spot is an offense that will deploy him as a big slot or flex piece early in his career while he develops the blocking chops to become an every-down contributor. He is not a finished product, and the combine did nothing to quiet concerns about his overall athletic ceiling in a deep tight end class. But the route-running instincts, the production history, and the positional versatility give him a real floor as a move tight end who can contribute as a receiver from Day 1. The ceiling depends entirely on what happens in the weight room and the blocking sled over the next two years.

Ty Simpson highlights vs. Georgia pic.twitter.com/7ktifAFnYv

— RAM BLITZR. 💙💛 (@inurhead69) April 26, 2026

I like this draft but it is so future oriented, it’s like getting a 2 year Certificate of Deposit on your birthday instead of cash.

* Simpson is controversial, being picked so high yet not being a wowy-zowy style big guy who can run. He does have traits that fit what the Rams want (smart, played in a pro offense, accurate, fast processor). It’s as if the Rams got Brock Purdy in a year when you had to take Brock Purdy in the 1st round. The big knock is lack of playing time, but then he’s not going to be a day one starter. The Rams offensive coaching staff is loaded with guys who can bring him along. So it remains to be seen whether or not we will eventually see if time will tell.

* Klare. This is one of their picks for the future. As I keep saying, after 2026 the Rams face both veteran TEs being free agents plus 4 starting OL. In order to run 3 TE sets they will need 4 TEs, or they’re one injury away from not running 3 TE sets. I doubt they will keep 5 but who knows. Klare’s a move TE who can run WR routes, he’s not an in-line blocking TE. He’s onboard as a match up nightmare type, and though he isn’t projecting the vibe of a Kellen Winslow or Antonio Gates, he really does look like he can develop into a good one.

* Trost is (IMO) a guard in the Avila/Dotson mold. After 2026, they probably can’t keep both Avila and Dotson. This team absolutely needs a top performing OL. Trost fits the mold of good Ryan Wendell OL players. So, a pick for the future who can maybe step in if a guard gets banged up this season. He may also be a prospect at ROT. Anyway all I can say about him is that the Rams made a top OL out of nothing, and he looks like he’s the kind of guy they tend to have success with.

* CJ Daniels is the one guy I can see contributing right away. Interestingly, he plays like Nacua (that is, specifically, he plays the way Nacua does at the point of the catch), and also says he bases his route running style on Adams. This, to me, is an exciting player. He could develp into their WR3 this year. He’s sophisticated and crafty running routes, but an absolute monster at the point of the catch, with highlights featuring impossible catches that are completely if not in fact eerily like Nacua’s. He’s another receiver who is built to maximize Stafford’s gunslinger habit of throwing aggressively to tight spots.

* Tim Keenan. A bull at NT who will not be getting great pass rush numbers. Team captain type who does everything right and can clog the run, but is basically a sumo wrestler on a DL that is made up of ninjas.

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