When the Atlanta Falcons signed Tua Tagovailoa and the Kansas City Chiefs traded for Justin Fields, a familiar story began to unfold. Both teams were dealing with star quarterbacks—Michael Penix Jr. and Patrick Mahomes—recovering from late-season ACL tears, each fighting to return by Week 1 but facing serious questions about their offseason participation.

That meant Tagovailoa and Fields would get more than just mental reps in the meeting room. They'd be taking real snaps with their new teammates, learning new systems on the fly, and building chemistry under center.

Now, Ty Simpson—the 13th overall pick by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2026 NFL Draft—finds himself in a similar position. But with a twist.

The Rams don't have an injured quarterback. Reigning MVP Matthew Stafford isn't fighting to hold onto his job after the team selected the Alabama signal-caller with their first-round pick. But last summer, Stafford's preseason was limited by an aggravated disc in his back—and his subsequent MVP campaign taught the Rams a valuable lesson.

Expect them to take a similar approach with the 38-year-old veteran this offseason.

That means Stafford will likely get plenty of rest during offseason workouts, leaving the door wide open for Simpson to step in and take meaningful reps. It's a win-win: the veteran stays fresh for the long haul, while the rookie gets invaluable on-field experience.

Rams general manager Les Snead addressed this strategy last month at the league's annual meetings. He acknowledged the reality that "when you go through a quarterback transition, that's a cliff." By managing Stafford's workload in the offseason, the Rams aim to boost his late-season performance while simultaneously developing their depth chart for the post-Stafford era.

"The way we manage Matthew, at least our backup QB is going to get more reps," Snead said. And for Simpson, those first two months with the Rams could be the foundation of something special.