No team pulled off a bigger surprise than the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night, picking Ty Simpson at No. 13 overall. Though the Rams had been linked to Simpson during the pre-draft process, no one thought they would take him that early. He was viewed as more of a late-first-round or second-round prospect.

And yet, the Rams still took the Alabama quarterback, hoping he will be their successor to Matthew Stafford.

Fans are almost unanimously against the selection, but experts are more split on it. Overall, though, more than half of the grades handed out have been C+ or worse.

Here's a roundup of expert grades for the Rams drafting Simpson.

There was widespread pre-draft skepticism that Simpson would crack Day 1 at all. Instead, he makes it into the top half of the order. Los Angeles is likely the ideal landing spot for the signal-caller, who's short on experience but can be brought along slowly behind Matthew Stafford. But the Rams really must have seen something in Simpson to pivot from their plan to go all in for the reigning NFL MVP. Les Snead and Sean McVay deserve the benefit of the doubt here, as they've been one of the best teams at identifying talent in the draft in recent years. And maybe it gives the franchise the smooth transition behind center that once seemed like it would be hard to enact. But Simpson has displayed some fairly significant shortcomings and limitations as an undersized and inexperienced passer, and this certainly feels like a sizable stretch.

Coming into Thursday night, it seemed Simpson was likely to be picked in the middle or late part of the first round, so the Rams decided to beat the rush to their future starting quarterback. Reigning MVP Matthew Stafford is 38 years old, and the franchise might not get many opportunities to make such an early pick. A long-term investment in the QB position made a lot of sense.

Simpson showed high-end ability last season before injuries started piling up. He understands how to attack tight windows and play with the anticipation necessary to translate to the NFL. I also think he gets underrated physically as he's got very light feet in the pocket and an NFL-caliber arm. The Rams don't plan on picking this high until Matthew Stafford retires, and now they have their transition plan.

This is the draft’s most enigmatic selection, and it’s not close. If a team drafted Simpson to start right away, the grade, at best, would have been a C-minus — he’s not ready for the NFL in that capacity. But as a backup behind potential Hall of Famer Matthew Stafford? That’s interesting. Can Simpson become a Jordan Love-style success story or will he go down the Jake Locker path? Check the magic eight-ball in three or four years.

In a spot where many assumed the Rams would look to bolster their short-term Super Bowl window with Matthew Stafford at quarterback with an early first-round pick, they instead opted to take a swing on the future at the position in a post-Stafford world. There was growing momentum that Simpson would be selected toward the end of the first round — he ranked 38th on the Consensus Big Board — but few expected him to come off the board this early. Simpson has just one year of starting experience, and Los Angeles is betting that the time spent behind Stafford and with Sean McVay will help clean up some of the timing and ball placement inconsistencies in his game.

In a vacuum, I really don’t get this pick. This feels like a massive reach for an undersized, lightly experienced quarterback who was injured (and played poorly) for half of his only season as a starter. And maybe more importantly, the Rams are in a position to compete for the Super Bowl right now, and this pick doesn’t give them a better chance to do that. But all that being said: Of all the potential landing spots for Simpson, this is, by light-years, the best he could’ve hoped for. He can sit behind Matthew Stafford for a year or two and learn from him and Sean McVay. I just think the Rams are paying way too much to find out what he can be down the line.

Now, perhaps Les Snead and company believe they have everything they need to make yet another run with Stafford in place. But with concerns about Puka Nacua arising over the past few months, Davante Adams getting another year older, and still needing some other pieces, the Rams could have added another premium talent at this spot. Instead, they’re drafting a QB that they hope will not see the field for a year or two, in a down year for quarterbacks, and ahead of what might be a better QB class next year. Perhaps the thinking is that the Rams might not be picking this high again anytime soon, but even still …

Again, I liked the idea of Simpson to the Rams at 29, I just do not like it as much at 13 given the talent still on the board.

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: NFL draft grades: Experts split on Rams' selection of Ty Simpson