The first round of the 2026 NFL Draft is in the books and it did not disappoint. There were a total of eight trades in Round 1, including five in the final seven picks. The Atlanta Falcons had to sit Day 1 out but surely enjoyed seeing what the Los Angeles Rams did with their first-round pick.In one of the most head-scratching moments of the night, the Rams drafted Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall selection.
Simpson, while talented, wasn't a lock for the first round. Plus, the Rams have Matthew Stafford, who just won the league MVP and is playing the best football of his career. There are some obvious parallels to the Falcons drafting Michael Penix Jr. after signing Kirk Cousins in 2024, which the team was relentlessly trolled for at the time.
Atlanta was mocked again during last year's draft for trading their 2026 first-round pick to the Rams for edge James Pearce Jr. While Pearce led all rookies with 10.5 sacks, his offseason arrest only made those around the league view the trade less favorably for Atlanta. Therefore, it goes without saying that Falcons fans enjoyed seeing the Rams be the butt of the joke for once.
Head coach Sean McVay only made things worse with his less-than-enthusiastic press conference on Thursday night. Check out how those around the league, including folks in Atlanta, reacted to the Rams taking Simpson in Round 1.NFL world reacts to Rams reaching on QB Ty SimpsonRams used the pick they got from the Atlanta Falcons to draft….Ty Simpson?! #NFLDraftpic.twitter.com/LJJLHfaUh7— Austin (@AustinPlanet) April 24, 2026The #Rams’ press conference with GM Les Snead and HC Sean McVay after selecting QB Ty Simpson didn’t exactly give off the vibe that McVay was the most pumped person in the world about the pick.https://t.co/Y6XqtdcRlg— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) April 24, 2026I mean.
Getting to learn behind Stafford is IDEAL. But this feels like a MASSIVE reach at No. 13. McVay knows more than I do but hard to believe someone was coming for him this early to justify this pick.— JerseyDevilSports (@JDevilSports) April 24, 2026He’s over the moon.
Never seen anyone this ecstatic about their future franchise guy. pic.twitter.com/KWOcHIxcfk— 🅱️en (@benboomjamin) April 24, 2026This is BIZARRE… I have NEVER seen the Rams in disarray like this… I dunno, my gut tells me Sean McVay wanted Kenyon Sadiq or Makai Lemon… https://t.co/sYkxfQi6A6— John Frascella (Football) (@NFLFrascella) April 24, 2026This was the first round pick the Rams acquired from the Falcons, who in 2024 did not give Kirk Cousins a head up that they planned to select Michael Penix in the first round. The Rams called their veteran QB Matthew Stafford today to inform him that they planned to select Ty… https://t.co/MsMO6gLDEX— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 24, 2026Falcons won the trade after all. https://t.co/dO61W3k2xq— Nigel (@Nigel_ATL) April 24, 2026Trying to get your word count up just adding bs in there.— Tish (@tish________) April 24, 2026Lmao huge reach to trash the Falcons.
Two different situations. https://t.co/FSqlE0rH8Q— Evan Birchfield (@EvanBirchfield) April 24, 2026You taking shots at the #Falcons to cope with the fact that they won this trade with the Rams?? Lol. ESPN’s Atlanta sports hate continues to look stupid and ignorant smh. https://t.co/IFt8ZXkHEC— Yuriy Andriyashchuk🇺🇦 (@YuriyATL) April 24, 2026Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft starts at 7 p.m.
ET on Friday evening. The Falcons have two picks, starting with No. 48 overall in Round 2 and pick No. 79 overall in Round 3. This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Rams draft QB Ty Simpson with Falcons' first-round pick