The Los Angeles Rams took a huge gamble when they took Ty Simpson with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.The Rams opted to use their lone first-round draft pick on the Alabama quarterback as they begin preparing for life after reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford whenever he decides to hang up his cleats for good.Simpson was drafted by the LA Rams with the 13th overall pickGettyIt was a move which shocked many around the NFL, even appearing to stun Rams head coach Sean McVay, who looked far from impressed, if his body language were anything to go by, during the post-draft press conference.Even his energy when making the draft call to Simpson didn’t appear to be fully aligned with that of someone who was ‘thrilled’ about the pick like McVay later claimed he was. But perhaps all that was just a smokescreen after all. In a radio interview with ESPN’s Ian Fitzsimons, Simpson revealed that he had ‘some secret meetings’ with McVay and the Rams prior to the draft, which gave him confidence they would select him at some point.“We tried to keep this under wraps as long as we could,” Simpson told Fitzsimmons. “It was something to where I knew they were interested, but they wanted to make it private and didn’t want people to know that they were interested.“So, I had some secret meetings with Coach McVay, and I just was trying to be on script and do what everybody told me and not to tell anybody.”“So I knew they were interested, I just didn’t know when.”Having spent much of his college football career as a back-up, behind the likes of Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe, both of whom are in the NFL, Simpson earned the starting job for the Crimson Tide in 2025. In 15 appearances under center, the 23-year-old completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 3,567 passing yards and 28 touchdowns to just five interceptions. He also rushed for an additional 93 yards and two scores, and was even considered by some draft analysts to have greater NFL potential than No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza. McVay’s plain reaction has led some fans to speculate whether he agreed with the pick of SimpsonX / @BreidenFehokoMcVay revealed that the QB1 role is Matthew Stafford’s until he decides to move on or retireGettySimpson backtracks on downplaying pre-draft interactionsReports quickly surfaced after the Rams’ first-round selection that suggested that McVay and Simpson hadn’t even met prior to the draft. “It was really brief, to be honest with you,” the young signal caller had said Thursday night. “I met with some scouts in Alabama, and that was really it. They talked to my agent, but that really wasn’t much.”But the 23-year-old quickly later hushed those rumors as well, stating that the pair had in fact met at the Rams’ facility, where they ‘talked for hours and hours’. “It was great. We met at the facility and it was something to where we just talked for hours and hours,” Simpson continued. “It was just football, straight football. “I was like a kid in a candy store. Me and him were sitting there and we’re just going back and forth. You can tell the obsession he has for the game and you can tell the love he has for quarterback play. “It’s something that I appreciate and enjoy because I really enjoy playing the position and value the position.“So being with him and getting to know him, and just seeing a little bit of how I would get coached if I was fortunate enough to go there was something that I couldn’t have asked for a better situation.”Simpson will spend at least his rookie season behind – and learning from – 38-year-old Stafford, with McVay making it very clear that the starting job belongs to the future Hall of Famer, until he ultimately makes the decision to move on. Stay up to date with the latest from the NFL across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for all the news, exclusives, interviews and more.