The Los Angeles Rams’ ideal plan in the draft wasn’t to take Ty Simpson at No. 13. At least, that’s according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
It’s not that they wanted to take a different player. They just wanted to take Simpson later on in the first round.
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Schefter revealed on his podcast this week that the Rams’ plan was to trade down, potentially to No. 17, and take Simpson there after collecting some extra picks. That didn’t work out because, as Schefter says, “they got no offers” when they were on the clock.
“Now, the Rams were going to try to trade back. That was the plan. Hopefully move back to, say Detroit at 17, get some extra picks and take Ty Simpson there,” Schefter said. “When their turn on the clock came, they didn’t get any calls. They got no offers. So they were forced to take Ty Simpson at that spot.”
This contradicts a report from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, who reported last week that the Rams “received trade calls on the 13th pick, a source confirmed.”
“Teams coveted Penn State guard Olaivavega Ioane, who went 14th to Baltimore, and a trade with Los Angeles would have helped a team jump Baltimore for the top guard. But Los Angeles stood pat,” Fowler wrote.
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Schefter added that had the Rams not taken Simpson when they did, it’s likely that he would’ve fallen to the second round, seeing no other viable landing spots for the Alabama quarterback.
Of course, it’s possible a team (like the Cardinals) could’ve traded up from the second round into the first to take Simpson, but we’ll never know. Simpson’s dad also said other teams ahead of the Rams and behind them were eyeing his son in the draft.
“I don’t know that there would’ve been another landing spot in the first round for Ty Simpson. I really don’t,” Schefter said. “It’s very possible – in fact, I would say it’s more likely that he would’ve gotten into the second round. That’s my belief, based on my intel.”
In a perfect world, yes, the Rams would’ve traded back and taken Simpson later on, making it a better value because of the extra picks they would’ve gotten. But when a team likes a quarterback, it doesn’t try to get cute by trading back and taking him later. You take the quarterback when he’s available.
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Who knows? If the Rams traded down from 13 to 17, the Jets might’ve taken him at 16. Trying to thread the needle on a player you love can be dicey.
One other note: Schefter said the players who were also in the discussion at No. 13 were Makai Lemon, Kenyon Sadiq and Ioane, who all went between picks 14 and 20.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: NFL draft: Rams wanted to trade down and take Ty Simpson but couldn’t