Ty Simpson Inactive for Week 1 vs. 49ers, 1st-Round NFL Draft Pick is Rams' QB3 Behind Bennett

Los Angeles Rams first-round pick Ty Simpson was listed among the team's inactives ahead of Thursday's matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.

That means Stetson Bennett will open the season as Matthew Stafford's backup.

When the Rams drafted Simpson No. 13 overall this April it came as a bit of a surprise, given the team had a win-now roster and another immediate contributor to their Super Bowl aspirations would have made sense. But given Stafford's age (38) and back issues that almost led to an injured reserve stint to start the 2025 season, Los Angeles clearly wanted to have a long-term contingency plan in place at quarterback.

Head coach Sean McVay didn't initially seem thrilled with the selection during a post-draft press conference, though he later said he was happy to have Simpson on he team but was trying to be respectful to Stafford, the incumbent:

"That was never my intended way to be able to come off, but sometimes I can be a little grumpy," he told reporters. "There was other things that had nothing to do with that. That's normal life. But the main thing was (I) couldn't be more excited to add (Simpson), but also understanding of how much I love Stafford, how respectful you want to always be to just the way things can be interpreted. The demeanor would have been stoic by nature because you are excited, but it is Matthew's football team. Excited to be able to add Ty. What a blessing it is for him to be able to learn from Matthew... but whenever that time comes for him to get an opportunity to be Matthew's successor will be on Matthew's terms. I didn't want that to ever be misunderstood, while not lessening the excitement (about) Ty."

Meanwhile, Simpson and Bennett competed during the summer to earn the backup duties to Stafford, a job Bennett ultimately won, while Simpson will be the emergency quarterback.

But those roles behind Stafford could ultimately flip.

"Here's the way that it's different than previous years, and what I mean by that is, previously like when Jimmy [Garoppolo] was the backup, he took all the reps with the 'look' team," McVay told reporters last week. "We're going to make sure that both of those guys are going to continue to be developed. We feel good about both of those guys. Somebody has to be the backup on game day. Somebody has to be the emergency third. We'll see which direction... I've talked to those guys about it and I don't want to necessarily say that whatever we do in Week 1 is how it stays throughout the year, but our job is to develop both of those guys. Like I've told you, I feel really good about both of them."

But for now, Bennett is the backup.