Latest / The Sports Hangover Daily / Rams Draft QB at 13 With Reigning MVP on Roster | Apr 24, 2026
Transcript
- The 2026 NFL Draft kicked off last night in Pittsburgh, and Ohio State basically treated Round 1 like a company picnic — four Buckeyes went in the first eleven picks. Four. The national championship factory is now the first-round factory too. Welcome to The Sports Hangover Daily, I'm Michael Benatar. Alright, let's get into it. The NFL Draft dominated Thursday night, and there's a LOT to unpack, but the story of the evening — at least the one that made me almost spit out my drink — is the Rams taking Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson at pick thirteen. Thirteen! With the reigning MVP already on the roster. Matthew Stafford is still your guy, still getting a contract extension reportedly, and LA just used a first-round pick on his eventual replacement. The Rams are the first team since 1967 to enter the draft with a reigning MVP at quarterback and still spend a first-rounder on a QB. Now look, I get the logic. Stafford's not getting younger, and you want to develop someone behind him. But thirteen? That's not a late-round flier, that's a top-fifteen commitment. They apparently told Stafford ahead of time so he wouldn't be blindsided, which — nice gesture, I guess? "Hey Matt, congrats on the MVP, we're drafting your replacement in prime time." As a Rams fan, I'm torn. I trust Les Snead's big swings, but this one felt early. Simpson wasn't even projected to go this high on most boards. The rest of the top of the draft went mostly chalk. Fernando Mendoza went number one to the Raiders — Heisman winner, national champ at Indiana, no surprise there. The Jets grabbed edge rusher David Bailey at two. Arizona took Jeremiyah Love at three — first running back in the top three since Trent Richardson in 2012. And the Giants snagged Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese at five after the Jets passed on him. Eight trades in Round 1, the whole thing moved fast with the new eight-minute clock, and honestly? It was a fun watch. Now let's get into Around the League, because the NBA Playoffs also delivered last night. In Atlanta, CJ McCollum did it AGAIN. Fadeaway jumper with twelve and a half seconds left, Hawks win one oh nine to one oh eight, and Atlanta leads the Knicks two to one. McCollum had twenty-three points, and the dude has ice in his veins right now. New York actually came all the way back from eighteen down — Brunson hit a three-point play with a minute left to take a one oh eight to one oh five lead — and then McCollum just ripped their hearts out. OG Anunoby had twenty-nine, Brunson had twenty-six, and it didn't matter. The Knicks have a closing problem, and if they don't fix it fast, they're going home. Over in Toronto, the Raptors absolutely — I mean, the Raptors demolished Cleveland one twenty-six to one oh four. Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett combined for sixty-six points on twenty-three of thirty-six shooting, including nine of thirteen from three. Toronto scored on NINETEEN straight possessions spanning the third and fourth quarters. That's not a hot streak, that's a video game glitch. Cleveland still leads the series two to one, but that was a statement from Toronto's home crowd. In Minneapolis, the Timberwolves clamped down on Denver, winning one thirteen to ninety-six. Jokic had one of the ugliest shooting nights of his playoff career — seven of twenty-six from the field. Rudy Gobert was all over him. Minnesota held Denver to just eleven points in the first quarter, a postseason franchise record. Ayo Dosunmu had twenty-five and nine assists off the bench, and the Wolves lead that series two to one. Denver was also without Aaron Gordon due to a calf injury, which doesn't help. Quick NFL Draft nuggets — the Chiefs traded up to six and grabbed LSU corner Mansoor Delane. The Eagles traded with the rival Cowboys for pick twenty and took USC receiver Makai Lemon, which is notable because everyone expects A.J. Brown to be traded to the Patriots by June first. Adam Schefter basically confirmed there's an unofficial deal in place. And then there's the Vrabel situation. The Patriots head coach is stepping away after Day 2 of the draft to seek counseling following photos that surfaced of him with former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini at an Arizona resort. Eliot Wolf is running the show for New England through the weekend. The NFL says it won't review Vrabel's conduct under the personal conduct policy, so this stays a personal matter for now. But it's clearly a distraction for a franchise that's trying to rebuild. Alright, here's my Hangover Take for today. I wanna talk about the Knicks for a second, because what's happening to them is a pattern, not a fluke. They've now blown a late lead in back-to-back games against a Hawks team that, respectfully, most people picked them to beat. And the problem isn't talent. Brunson's a killer, OG is playing out of his mind, Towns is giving you twenty-plus. The problem is that when it's the last minute of a tight game, nobody on that roster scares you. CJ McCollum — a guy Atlanta picked up at the trade deadline — is outperforming New York's entire closing unit in crunch time. If the Knicks lose this series, it won't be because they weren't good enough. It'll be because they couldn't finish. And that's the kind of thing that gets a coach fired and a roster blown up. New York, you've got one more shot at home in Game 4. Figure it out or start planning for October. That's your hangover. Go hydrate. I'll see you tomorrow.