There was a lot of debate in the weeks leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft over just how talented a prospect quarterback Ty Simpson is, and if he was worth a first-round pick compared to the other prospects in the draft pool. It turns out that the Los Angeles Rams certainly thought Simpson was worthy of a Day 1 pick – and they reportedly worked quite hard to make sure other teams didn't catch on to how interested they were.

After being drafted, Simpson made it clear that the Rams had long expressed serious interest and that he was receptive to landing with the franchise. But the Rams worked to keep everything "under wraps for as long as possible," with the former Alabama signal caller even arranging clandestine meetings with Rams head coach Sean McVay.

"We tried to keep this under wraps as long as we could, It was something to where I knew they were interested, but they wanted to make it private and didn't want people to know that they were interested," he said. "So I had some secret meetings with Coach McVay and I just was trying to be on script and do what everybody told me and not to tell anybody.”

Wild: Ty Simpson says the Rams drafting him was something they all tried to keep under wraps for as long as possible, with him even having secret meetings with Sean McVay to prevent everyone from finding out, he told ESPN.“We tried to keep this under wraps as long as we could,… pic.twitter.com/FaVGWXyeS5

Simpson passed for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns, and just five interceptions last season for the Crimson Tide and was named a Second-Team All-SEC selection.

The Rams will likely look to turn to Simpson in the future to inherit the starting role from Matthew Stafford, who is set to return to the league next year after winning the NFL MVP award in 2025, but will be entering his 18th year as a pro quarterback.

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Rams reportedly kept Ty Simpson plans a closely-held secret