Rams' most burning question once more surrounds odd 2026 NFL Draft strategy

The Los Angeles Rams might have put together a solid 2026 NFL Draft, but there's still one burning question for them. Dan Graziano of ESPN had 10 lingering questions following the draft, and one of them was directed squarely at the Rams.

Graziano was curious as to why the Rams didn't help the 2026 team. He pointed out how they did fine -tune the secondary with some pre-draft moves but seemed a bit confused about the Rams spending their first-round pick on Ty Simpson rather than helping out the 2026 squad.

"You can make a compelling case that all the Rams needed were minor tweaks, not major upgrades. So when they drafted Ty Simpson, a quarterback they hope doesn't even see the field as a rookie, with the 13th pick, that was a big part of their thought process.

Could a 38-year-old Stafford break down, and could the season fall apart as a result? Sure. But the Rams would have been taking that risk even if they'd added, say, Rueben Bain Jr. with the 13th pick. The Rams came out of last season thinking they were a lucky bounce or two away from a title, and they operated their draft accordingly -- thinking about the long term rather than the short." - Dan Graziano

Of course, the team did address the offense with multiple rookies in tight end Max Klare, offensive tackle Keagen Trost, and wide receiver CJ Daniels. Even quarterback Ty Simpson, who many expect to sit out 2026, is a promising upgrade to a roster that had no QBs under contract for 2027.

Rams facing future challenges in 2026

This doesn't necessarily sound like Graziano is criticizing the Rams for what they did in the draft. After all, he praises them for thinking about the long-term future of the team, but when push comes to shove, the Rams' championship window is tied to Matthew Stafford, and with his career nearing the end, it would have made sense for them to have loaded up a bit more to help him.

To play devil's advocate, though, the Chiefs pulled this same move back in 2017, moving up to draft Patrick Mahomes when they already had Alex Smith playing well at quarterback. That's obviously worked out well for them. L.A. could be operating in a similar manner here.

The fact of the matter is that we won't know how the Simpson move ages for a few more years. It could end up going down as a wasted pick and one that the Rams desperately needed to change to win another Super Bowl, or it could be what helps keep them afloat after Stafford hangs up the cleats. We'll just have to wait and see.

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