Clue that Rams aren’t interested in Ty Simpson

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 27: Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson answers questions from the media during the NFL Scouting Combine on February 27, 2026 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The story of Peter Schrager’s mock draft isn’t just that the Rams took Makai Lemon, it’s the player who ESPN’s analyst didn’t have L.A. connected to at all. Actually, Schrager doesn’t have any team taking Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson in the first round, a sign that his ESPN colleague Dan Orlovsky’s ploy to drum interest there has backfired.

The spotlight that Orlosky attempted to put on Simpson last month by calling him better than Fernando Mendoza has inspired more and more draft analysts to examine the prospect and come back with the same answer: He’s not a first round pick.

Schrager’s opinion is perhaps the most notable at all however because no historically no insider has been more plugged into what the Rams are doing than the former Sean McVay podcast co-host.

“Until I have a team that tells me, ”We love Ty Simpson”’, said Schrager on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, “it doesn’t do anyone any good just throwing him in there.”

Unless you want to call that a smokescreen for the Rams, Schrager is making it 100% clear that the Rams are not interested in Simpson. Not in the first round.

"Until I have a team that tells me, 'We love Ty Simpson' or 'We're going to take Ty Simpson,' it doesn't do anyone any good just throwing him in there."

—@PSchrags on Ty Simpson not being in the first round of his NFL mock draft

(via @PatMcAfeeShow) pic.twitter.com/jC9gXy6VZ8

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) April 7, 2026

Simpson’s inability to rise up draft boards means that Mendoza’s value as the only rock solid first round quarterback has skyrocketed. The Las Vegas Raiders are sure to be picking Mendoza and leave the other 31 teams, most of whom would love to develop a young quarterback, searching for answers on day two and three.

Others, like Robert Mays, have come out in agreement that Simpson doesn’t have a first round resume.

.@robertmays explains why he doesn’t see QB Ty Simpson as a first-round pick 🗣️

(via Yahoo Sports Daily) pic.twitter.com/HG5wL3jqwC

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 6, 2026

Another ESPN analyst, Matt Miller, also says there are no teams in the Ty Simpson market in the first round.

.@nfldraftscout on Ty Simpson:

“No team in Round 1 makes sense to me as a Simpson landing spot. No team in the top 10 that needs a QB is likely to reach for him, nor should they… Maybe a team trades back into the first round for him, but that's a risky proposition.” pic.twitter.com/hO3yik3Tuv

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) March 27, 2026

Orlovsky won’t back down, saying that the Raiders should pick Simpson as recently as Monday.

.@danorlovsky7 on which QB is a better fit for the Raiders:

"Ty Simpson, schematically, is a better fit or marriage for what the Las Vegas Raiders would do under Klint Kubiak than Fernando Mendoza."

(@GetUpESPN) pic.twitter.com/ueygVEaEZj

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) April 6, 2026

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said that he has not talked to a single team that has Simpson with a first round grade. We know that makes Simpson a major reach at pick 13, potentially even at pick 31.

“Obviously, you can talk to different people, but I have not talked to anyone that has that,” Jeremiah said. “That’s not saying that he’s saying anything untrue, he’s just talking to different folks, apparently, than the folks that I’ve been talking to. And that goes from the Raiders, and a bunch of other teams too, and it wasn’t particularly close.”

The Rams would like to add a quarterback behind Stafford who could develop for 1-2 years, but there are 0 signs that there is a single avenue towards doing that in the first round.

And if it’s a quarterback at the end of the second round, that doesn’t leave much room for hope that L.A. wouldn’t have to go back to the same well again in the 2027 draft looking for a signal caller. Which makes you wonder, why didn’t Ty Simpson just transfer?