The Los Angeles Rams had one of the funniest draft picks I have ever seen in quarterback Ty Simpson. Simpson is a backup-level talent, and they took him in the first round. Then, Sean McVay had to make the rounds on Friday and Saturday and say that neither he nor Matthew Stafford is mad about the pick (they are). The “F Picks” administration really went crazy with that one, but it was the Falcons’ pick, which means that they would have found a way to get Ty Simpson at thirteenth overall, as well. It was destiny. They followed that up by taking their fifth tight end in the second round (not an exaggeration) and a possession receiver in the sixth (in case Puka does more Puka things, probably). Let’s see how any of these choices break down for 2026 fantasy football!
Round 1, Pick 13 Overall: Ty Simpson, QB
The following is, hilariously, an excerpt from our Round One Rookie Roundup, which you can find here.
TALENT
Ty Simpson isn’t all bad. He’s a competent field general who does a great job of dissecting defenses presnap and can get through his reads quickly enough to find the open man. He also has an exceptionally quick release, which helps him fire the ball in on intermediate and short routes, letting his talented teammates do the hard work. He also has decent enough running ability, and can juke a man in the open field for a first down, but you will never mistake him for Lamar Jackson or Colin Kaepernick (more of a Joe Burrow-level runner). Simpson is also a proficient scrambler and can throw on the run reasonably well. This off-platform ability is useful for Simpson because of my main issue with Simpson.
While Simpson does a lot right, he has one fatal flaw that I cannot get over, but one that a good quarterbacks coach can fix at the NFL level: his footwork is wildly inconsistent, even in clean pockets. I saw him, over multiple games, throw pigeon-toed (with his front foot pointed past 90 degrees away from the play’s target). He does this with extreme frequency, not only blowing his footwork, but also his torso and arm work. Nothing seems to have any sort of consistency for Simpson, which renders all his goodness moot. It doesn’t matter if you accurately read that the safety will roll over and leave your slot receiver wide open on a post if you can’t consistently get the ball to him downfield.
No lie, I watched a Tom Brady-hosted video on quarterback mechanics because Ty Simpson made me feel like I was losing my mind watching his completely scattershot mechanics lead to scattershot accuracy. Unless this is fixed at the NFL level, he will find himself going nowhere fast. Ultimately, he’s best suited as a developmental pick.
NFL Comparison: Mac Jones
Draft Grade: Round 6
2026 OPPORTUNITY
Matthew Stafford is the starting quarterback in Los Angeles, and this is a (horrible) pick for the future.
2026 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
No, thank you!
Round 2, Pick 61 Overall: Max Klare, TE
TALENT
Klare is frustrating for me to watch because he looks like a lot of other good tight ends out there, but he also looks like he’s actively telling himself what to do on every single play. Nothing about him is fluid or instinctual, though it often ends with decent results. His blocking is atrocious, frequently overcommitting to defenders, putting himself out of the play by blocking them after the play is long past them. You can also see the gears turning when he gets ready to engage a defender, as if he has to remind himself to do all the parts of blocking. Even then, he whiffs it. He has bad feet while blocking, which gets him thrown off his spot, and his footwork as a route runner is bad, too.
He’s good once he catches the football, turning upfield to get nice yards after the catch, but if he gets too much space, he will trip all over himself (again, nothing is instinctual). He also has zero feel for defenders, frequently whipping his routes straight into a zone coverage defender, allowing man coverage to ride his back like Yoda training Luke, or tripping over defenders in crowded spaces. Catching the football is also an issue, as he isn’t a good hands catcher, frequently jumping to catch the ball against his body, which minimizes his yards after the catch ability. He also bobbles the ball if this is not feasible in any given target.
All told, he needs a good amount of coaching to knock all these bad traits out of him, but none of them are overall disastrous for his NFL prospects as an all-around back like Greg Dulcich or Dawson Knox. Unfortunately, I watched this movie before, as a 49ers fan, and I didn’t like what I saw.
NFL Comparison: Vance McDonald
Draft Grade: Round 3
2026 OPPORTUNITY
It’s hard to tell with the Rams, since they have about 75 tight ends of similar talent levels. There’s a sliding scale, of course, but they already have Hate Crime Higbee, Davis Allen, Colby Parkinson, and Terrance Ferguson who already get a ton of snaps. Undoubtedly, Klare is there to replace one of those tight ends, but the real question is: who is the odd man out (Davis Allen, it’s Davis Allen). Even if they slide Klare in for Davis Allen, the tight end group is still a distant third in passing game priority, behind stars Davante Adams and Puka Nacua.
Unfortunately, the Rams take their tight end group and spread their production across them, with no tight end running routes on 50% of snaps last year. Tyler Higbee led the group last year with a 10.8% target share, followed by Colby Parkinson’s 10.2%. Ferguson and Allen shared the remaining 11% target share. All told, that’s 32% target share to the tight ends, with Higbee (28.1 yards per game) and Parkinson (27.2 YPG) leading the way, productivity-wise.
2026 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
If Klare consolidates half of the tight end production in Los Angeles, then he will be worth a depth pick in best ball leagues at tight end, but that’s a lot of “ifs” and conditionals. It’s also no guarantee that he is even in a position to consolidate production, as Terrance Ferguson (who was a 2025 second-round pick) is ahead of him in the pecking order, even if the veteran depth falls away entering 2026. I don’t have any interest in him in regular redraft leagues, but he is a perfectly viable third-round pick in dynasty leagues as he likely enters The Blob in a season or two.
Round 6, Pick 197 Overall: C.J. Daniels, WR
TALENT
C.J. Daniels is an interesting player, insomuch as he could be a good deep threat in the NFL if he ever found another gear. He’s one of the most lumbering players I’ve seen in a straight line, moving like a tight end 5 inches and 60 pounds heavier than he is. But he is also incredibly nimble at the line of scrimmage, creating deadly amounts of short-area separation. He is also a great ball tracker and a strong pass catcher. Unfortunately, he doesn’t offer much after the catch (again, the lack of speed). So, in the end, he’s a strong possession receiver who offers little-to-no yards after the catch, and could end up with a 30-catch, 450-yard, 8-touchdown season down the line as his career-high line.
NFL Comparison: Michael Gallup
Draft Grade: Round 7
2026 OPPORTUNITY
Daniels is cheap Puka Nacua insurance for the Rams. If Puka doesn’t play, then they can get 70% Puka out there in Daniels. If that happens, then he will get a good amount of production, though a Nacua-less Rams are more likely to filter more production to the tight ends than to the sixth-round depth rookie. That said, Nacua is often injured, and he fits the same profile. So, it is a Nacua-contingent flowchart that ends with you maybe remembering that Daniels exists in November.
2026 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
The Puka Availability Flowchart does end up, in a circuitous way, in a reality where Daniels matters this season. You want to keep him on your redraft and dynasty rolodex, but the likelihood that he won’t matter in fantasy football is far greater than that he will in 2026.
