Rams join QB successor trend: Will the Ty Simpson pick work?

The 49ers traded three first-round picks to move up to draft Lance at No. 3 overall in 2021, a move that never panned out. Lance sat Garoppolo for the 2021 season before starting Week 1 of 2022. However, Lance broke his ankle early in Week 2 and never played another regular-season snap for the 49ers. Brock Purdy, who was taken with the last pick of Lance's same draft, ended up becoming the team's franchise starter.

Verdict: Fail

2021 Green Bay Packers: Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love

The Packers traded up to take Love with the No. 26 in a move that was criticized by many at the time because of Rodgers' continued excellence and how close the Packers' roster was to competing for a Super Bowl. Love sat behind Rodgers for two seasons (both of which were MVP years for the future Hall of Famer) with just one start before taking over in 2023 after Green Bay dealt Rodgers to the New York Jets. Love has been solid over the past three seasons with a 27-19-1 record and a 64.5% completion rate for 10,929 yards, 80 touchdowns and 28 interceptions.

Verdict: Relative success

2018 Baltimore Ravens: Joe Flacco to Lamar Jackson

The Ravens liked Jackson enough to move back into the end of the first round and take the Louisville quarterback at No. 32 overall. While Jackson started the 2018 season behind Flacco, he eventually took over for the veteran and started the final season games of the season before inheriting the role full-time in 2019 after Flacco's trade. The decision worked, as Jackson went on to win two MVPs and made three first-team All-Pro teams.

Verdict: Very successful

2018 Pittsburgh Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger to Mason Rudolph

The Steelers were going to have to figure out their quarterback situation soon, but decided to wait until the third round to address it when they took Rudolph. It didn't work out. While Rudolph was solid in his first eight in 2019 for the injured Roethlisberger (he went 5-3 with 1,765 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions), Rudolph was eventually demoted to third-string quarterback in 2022 after the team drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round and signed Mitchell Trubisky. Neither of the three successors to Roethlisberger panned out.

Verdict: Fail

2017 Kansas City Chiefs: Alex Smith to Patrick Mahomes

This is perhaps the best success plan of the 2010s. Mahomes was drafted to sit for a year before Smith (which he did) before the Chiefs traded away Smith in 2018. We all know what Mahomes did as soon as he took control of Andy Reid's offense: Two MVPs, six Pro Bowls, five Super Bowl appearances and two Lombardi Trophies. This is the gold standard for succession plans.

Verdict: Best-case scenario

2014 New England Patriots: Tom Brady to Jimmy Garoppolo

The Patriots made the curious decision to take Garoppolo in the second round of the 2014 draft. Yes, Brady was going into his age-37 season and Bill Belichick wanted to start planning for the future, but the Patriots miscalculated how much longer Brady would play at a high level. Garoppolo started two games for Brady during his Deflategate suspension, but the Patriots ended up trading Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers in 2017 because they wanted to keep Brady.

Verdict: Fail

Outlook for Rams and Ty Simpson

It's hard to say for sure what type of quarterback Simpson will be, but he's almost assuredly on a track closer to what Love and Mahomes experienced, considering he will absolutely not play in 2026 (barring injury) and he will learn under Stafford and head coach Sean McVay.

While the pick isn't exciting for the immediate future of the Rams, it does offer some hope of an extended window of contention, much like the Chiefs and Packers have enjoyed with Mahomes and Love.

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams join QB successor trend: Will the Ty Simpson pick work?