Ty Simpson will not have history on his side, and he doesn't have to look much further than Anthony Richardson.
When the former Gators quarterback was selected fourth overall by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2023 NFL Draft, the questions were immediate about whether a player with just one season of starts in college football could be successful. Richardson, with just 13 starts, was tied with Mitchell Trubisky for the fewest starts for a first-round quarterback since 2015. Simpson, who was selected 13th overall by the Los Angeles Rams in last week's draft, has just 15 starts, 14 of which came last season.
Anthony Richardson's NFL struggles are a cautionary tale for Ty Simpson
Richardson has struggled mightily in the NFL and is probably on his way out of Indianapolis. Trubisky had a lackluster career with the Chicago Bears before settling into being a journeyman backup. NFL and college football analyst Joel Klatt was on the Rich Eisen show recently and said that Simpson's lack of starts is a concern.
.@joelklatt told us why he likes the Ty Simpson pick by #RamsHouse but noted him potentially starting just 15 games in seven seasons is concerning:#NFL #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/rA3zNZkhWO
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) April 24, 2026
"There are questions about his stature, because he's not a huge guy, and the number of starts. The concern that I have is, yes, you'd want him to sit and develop, but that's what he did at Alabama," Klatt said.
Klatt adds that Simpson's final season in high school was 2021 and if he sits behind Rams' current starter Matthew Stafford, he will have played just one full season in seven years.
Anthony Richardson has never gotten out of the gate in the NFL
We know why Richardson was drafted so high. He is an elite athlete. He is 6-foor-4, 240 pounds and ran a 4.43 in pre-draft workouts. As a quarterback, he was extremely raw and knowing what we know now about Billy Napier's ability to develop players at the position, Richardson's success in the NFL was always going to be a long shot.
It's possible that a change of environment will be what Richardson needs. What he needed back then was another year of college football. At 23 years old, Richardson is hardly finished, but three years later he needs a reset.
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