A few months ago, the Atlanta Falcons' 2025 NFL Draft class looked like one of the league's strongest. However, it's started to age horribly across the last couple of months. Jalon Walker will miss all of 2026 due to a torn ACL, James Pearce Jr. was just suspended for the first eight games of 2026, Billy Bowman Jr. is still hurt, and Jack Nelson was cut. That's four of the five players they took.
However, that's not all. In the trade that saw the Falcons trade back into the first round to secure Pearce, they sent their 2026 first-round pick--which became the 13th overall pick-- to the Los Angeles Rams. And with that pick, LA drafted Ty Simpson, who just had an incredible NFL debut.
In the Rams' preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, Simpson was the star of the show. Not only did they win 20-12, he completed 21 of 25 pass attempts for 190 passing yards and two touchdowns while displaying the arm talent that made him such a commodity at Alabama last year.
Ty Simpson is making the Falcons' James Pearce Jr. trade age like milk
The idea of Simpson ending up in Los Angeles always had the potential to blow up in the Falcons' face, but no one expected it this soon. He was supposed to be the heir apparent behind reigning MVP Matthew Stafford, and the perfect moldable piece of clay to thrive in Sean McVay's offense.
The 23-year-old had a beautiful completion to Tyler Scott early on, and was connecting with Rams' second-rounder Max Klare also. But some of Simpson's best throws of the game came on LA's final touchdown drive with downfield strikes to Mark Redman and Brennan Presley and a dot to CJ Daniels.
21/25, 190 passing yards, 2 touchdowns.
— NFL (@NFL) August 15, 2026
A great start to the Preseason for @RamsNFL rookie QB @ty_simpson06. pic.twitter.com/QgkzQleVcl
Here's the other thing we need to remember: while Simpson took the majority of the snaps for the Rams, he didn't play with the starters. He wasn't lighting it up with Puka Nacua or Davante Adams. Presley and Redman were his leading receivers while Dean Conners caught both touchdowns.
Watching this guy set the league on fire in his debut, but doing so when he was selected with the Dirty Birds' own first-round pick is another story. Atlanta could have drafted someone like Makai Lemon or Caleb Banks with this pick--both of whom likely would've been Day 1 starters in Atlanta.
The sad part is that between Pearce and Walker, the Falcons thought they found their franchise pass-rushers for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, they'll be without both of them for the majority of 2026, which is the other reason this draft class (and trade) is starting to age progressively worse.
For all of the reports that McVay looked livid when the Rams drafted Simpson at No. 13, it's starting to look like a worthwhile investment. Falcons fans quickly realized Terry Fontenot messed up by overpaying to make the James Pearce Jr. trade, and while the suspension is bad enough, Ty Simpson's preseason debut confirmed he doesn't need to start in 2026 to make this look bad.
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