This offseason Stetson Bennett is hoping to become the backup to Matthew Stafford in LA for the first time in his career. Standing in his way is first round draft pick Ty Simpson who the Rams selected 13th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Stafford will be the Rams' starting quarterback this season, but heading into training camp Bennett and Simpson were battling to become his backup. It seemed like Simpson had the edge since the Rams used their first round pick on him this year, but it is actually Bennett who is the clear leader right now.
"Stetson Bennett came in as the favorite over Ty Simpson and neither player has done anything to change that," Cameron DaSilva said via ugawire.usatoday.com. "Bennett is getting most of the second-team reps (and first-team reps when Matthew Stafford is out), with Simpson getting limited opportunities in practice."
Stetson Bennett currently leads Ty Simpson in pivotal offseason battle
Bennett is reportedly getting a majority of the second-team reps this offseason with the Rams. In fact, Simpson isn't really getting many opportunities at all right now during training camp. This is the clearest sign up to this point that Bennett is winning this competition, but it gets even better.
Bennett reportedly is also getting first-team reps during training camp as well. Due to Stafford's age the Rams are limiting how much he is practicing, but allowing Bennett to get first-team reps shows that the Rams do trust him.
Simpson however will get more chances to surpass Bennett. The Rams do not play their starters that much during their preseason games, so Bennett and Simpson will get nearly all of the snaps throughout the preseason. That will be Bennett's chance to cement himself as the Rams backup quarterback, but it will also be Simpson's opportunity to leapfrog him.
The Rams either way will learn who their backup is during their preseason games, but going into those game it is clear that Bennett is winning this offseason battle.
Stetson Bennett is forcing the Rams to make a difficult decision
The consensus surrounding Bennett has been that the Rams likely will move on from him when his contract expires next offseason no matter how well he plays this year. Stafford will be back in 2027, so there is no chance he would be their starter, and with Simpson having one full year under his belt they would likely be ready to let him be Stafford's backup for good.
It's hard to imagine a scenario where the Rams use a first round pick to get Simpson without letting him be their guy in the future. That is the case even if Bennett plays better than him this year, that is unless Bennett plays significantly better.
Imagine a world where Bennett proves he is two or three times better than Simpson. How could the Rams let him walk this offseason if they knew that he was infinitely better than Simpson?
Bennett still has to got out and prove that, but there is a chance he earns another contract still if he plays extremely well and Simpson never pans out over the next year.
NFL economics are on Simpson's side, but Bennett has overcome far more difficult situations before. All he needs is one chance, and so far this offseason he is proving he is much better than Simpson with the limited chances he is getting.
Add us as a preferred source on Google