Rookie QB Ty Simpson comfortably ran Rams’ offense in preseason win vs. Chiefs

Four months after the Los Angeles Rams made the bold decision to draft Ty Simpson with the No. 13 pick, the time finally came to see the franchise’s quarterback of the future in a real game setting.

Simpson’s run became the headliner in the Rams’ 20-12 preseason victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. He took all but two series of the work behind center, leaving just a brief start for Stetson Bennett. And Simpson ran a smooth operation by finishing 21-of-25 for 190 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 125.0 rating.

It was clear the Rams wanted to use this preseason opener to get Simpson comfortable in an NFL-style offense. This was a reduced version called by new offensive coordinator Nathan Scheelhaase, with minimal opponent-specific game planning while facing the Chiefs’ backups.

But this was his first opportunity to play against a live pass rush, which tested one of the traits that drew Los Angeles to Simpson. The mobility was on display on many run-pass option and play-action rollout concepts designed around the intent to throw.

What was most encouraging about Simpson was how comfortable he looked moving to either his left or right. To most effectively fit the Sean McVay playbook whenever it is his time to start, Simpson will need to keep both sides of the field open and prevent defenses from dictating or eliminating the concepts they want to run.

The volume was another big shift, too, as Simpson has had a strikingly low number of reps in training camp despite the unsettled nature of the Rams’ backup quarterback position after Jimmy Garoppolo’s departure. My sense is they’ve been easing him in, knowing the complexity of McVay’s system and how difficult it has proven to be for any rookie to get on the field early on, let alone a quarterback.

But perhaps no position relies more on the presence of live reps to develop than a quarterback does, so giving Simpson 25 attempts was a start at doing that for him — intentionally after weeks of mostly sitting and watching.

Simpson looked operational for the most part. He bobbled the first dropback snap of the game, but it was a high snap, and he recovered before dropping it and then fired the ball quickly out of bounds. That was a glimpse at pushing through a message the Rams have given him: Don’t try to be the hero.

Simpson did bobble another handoff to running back Jordan Waters near the red zone, which contributed to Waters running into the backs of some of his linemen.

But beyond that, it was hard to find any glaring mistakes in Simpson’s play. He was efficient in his footwork on rollouts and scrambles, and timely in his throws, which almost all came off predetermined reads. The Rams clearly wanted to get him into a rhythm as a passer on the move, and it worked, finishing with an 84 percent completion rate.

The Rams kept the training wheels on him for a majority of the start, with almost every throw going within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. Simpson did get the chance to rip a few passes to the intermediate levels in the fourth quarter, which led to hitting sixth-round rookie receiver CJ Daniels for a 16-yard pass on a deeper dig concept.

Simpson didn’t get to flash anything that went beyond a starter-kit kind of game plan for a rookie quarterback. But they often say in this league that you can’t tell who can play in the NFL in the preseason, only who can’t. Simpson didn’t look like a guy who can’t play, and that was the goal.

As for Bennett, he saw just two series, which included a three-and-out to start. He finished 4-of-6 for 38 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions and an 84.0 rating.

It’s hard to know what to make of this battle for the No. 2 quarterback job. It’s possible the Rams have seen enough from Bennett already, or that Simpson could emerge from his play in the preseason. It still feels rather unsettled and unproven.

Max Klare impresses, Keagen Trost suffers injury

The Rams naturally spread the ball around to plenty of different targets, but the most impressive of them was a second-round rookie who also hadn’t gotten a ton of practice reps until this game.

Klare saw eight targets on Saturday and caught all but one of them. The only one he didn’t was an end-zone fade route that Bennett underthrew, and Klare did a nice job positioning himself and fighting for the ball to keep it from becoming an interception. He caught everything else, which was a mix of screens and flare routes, work in the short range that let him catch and run with the ball. He finished with seven receptions for 37 yards.

It’s going to be hard for Klare to see much action this season with how deep the Rams’ tight end room is, even with a greater shift to three-tight end sets. Los Angeles likes to draft this position a year early, since the transition, mentally and physically, at this position and in this offense is so extreme. I’d view Klare as a backup to Terrance Ferguson’s flex role, but perhaps he could see a few designs like these if he’s active on game days.

One disappointing development for the rookie class came when Trost, the Rams’ third-round pick, had to leave in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. Trost got the start at right tackle, where the Rams are training him to become Warren McClendon Jr.’s backup, with David Quessenberry focused on backing up Alaric Jackson on the left side.

It’s another potential hit to the Rams’ offensive line depth, with top backup guard Justin Dedich still having yet to suit up in camp after suffering a cut on his hand in early July.

Rookie second-rounder Max Klare is part of a loaded Rams tight end room. (Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)

Desjuan Johnson, Wesley Bailey flash

The Rams are so deep along the defensive line after the blockbuster trade for Myles Garrett that it’s easy to overlook some talented bodies they have fighting for back-end roster spots. But this game became a showcase for them. Edge rushers are among the better positions to evaluate in these vanilla settings because it’s still a matchup game for them, going one-on-one with opposing tackles, and Johnson and Bailey won in different ways that were impressive.

Johnson played on the edge in three-man fronts, a shift from how his career started as the final pick in the 2023 draft. He scored a sack when he burst off the line, slipped inside and around the tackle, and maintained good rush integrity to chase Garrett Nussmeier into raising the white flag.

Johnson has been working hard to slim down to try to add more versatility for a chance to crack this deep rotation. One of those workouts came early last week at the Rams’ facility with Aaron Donald, who continues to evaluate whether or not to return. Along with Braden Fiske, they ran ladder and cone drills to fine-tune their first-step explosion and side-to-side movement.

“Every workout that I have with him is a blessing and an opportunity to reach further heights,” said Johnson, who has five sacks in three seasons with the Rams. “Hard work pays off. Work in the dark and all of your hard work will come to light. Work when nobody sees you. Work when it’s hard. … Work while you can, because it’s not forever.”

Bailey continued to flash the body he’s shown in camp that looks too athletic to have gone undrafted out of Louisville this year. On one play, he held a stack position to force the quarterback to give up the ball to the running back up the middle on a zone read and dove forward to make the stop himself. He brought enough speed to the edges that he forced a false start later, as the backup tackles on the Chiefs saw a challenge in preparing for the attack.