The Los Angeles Rams have until Sunday to trim their roster down to 53 players, but one position already appears to be set in stone.
Head coach Sean McVay revealed the team will carry three quarterbacks to begin the regular season, via Zach Edwards of TheRams.com:
On Tuesday, head coach Sean McVay stated that the Rams are “going to have three quarterbacks on this team that are going to be good football players.”
When asked to confirm the Rams will carry three quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster, McVay responded by saying “yes, that will be the case.”
Matthew Stafford is returning as the Rams starting quarterback, but who will back him up has yet to be determined. McVay isn’t ready to say whether that will be Stetson Bennett or Ty Simpson:
“We feel fortunate that you got two guys that we believe in, feel really good about,” McVay said in reference to Bennett and Simpson. “One of those guys will be the backup in Australia.”
Bennett and Simpson have both impressed this summer, but only one can be Stafford’s primary backup. All signs point to that being Bennett, who is entering his fourth year with the Rams.
The 28-year-old has routinely taken snaps with the second-team offense in practice, and he’s coming off a solid performance in the Rams’ 34-0 win over the New Orleans Saints.
Simpson has also received praise from the Rams coaching staff after being selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. He led L.A. to a comeback win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 of the preseason and very much looks like the quarterback of their future.
The Rams usually don’t play their primary backup quarterback in the preseason finale, so whichever of Bennett and Simpson starts will likely end up third on the depth chart this season. Matthew Caldwell is also expected to get reps against the Chargers.
Sean McVay praises Stetson Bennett for improvements
Bennett completed 19 of 31 passes for 181 yards and added a pair of rushing touchdowns on two carries. He played the entire first half after seeing the field for only one quarter in the Rams’ preseason opener against the Chiefs.
McVay was impressed with Bennett’s performance and believes he is continuing to improve as a quarterback.
“I think he’s getting better and better,” McVay said after the Rams’ 34-0 win over the Saints. “I think part of it is the overall command. I thought he made some really good decisions. I thought he got through some progressions. Then I love the fact that he used his legs. We’ll learn from reaching the ball out on the end zone even though I challenged that and it worked out for us. We want to make sure that we don’t leave ourselves susceptible to getting a fumble in those types of situations where it goes to a touchback.
“But he did a great job. I thought he got an opportunity to be able to really showcase a lot of his skills. Huge credit to Dave Ragone too. I think those two guys were really in sync and it was fun to watch.”
