Alex Pitman
The Pick:
Jeffery Simmons, DT Miss State (Rd 1, Pk 19)
Measurables:
Height- 6’4”
Weight- 301 lbs
Arms- 34 ½”
Hands- 10 ¼”
Analysis:
Jeffery Simmons was largely considered a top 5 prospect heading into this year’s NFL draft. The 21-year-old was coming off an All-SEC season where he amassed 63 tackles, 18.0 TFL, 2 sacks, and multiple pressures his junior year for the Bulldogs. Unfortunately, Simmons tore his ACL while preparing for pre-draft workouts in February. That injury coupled with a video of him from high school repeatedly hitting a woman, for which he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and guilty of malicious mischief, surfacing made his draft stock slide down. On the field, however, there’s not much to like about Simmons ability to play.
He’s a physical specimen with a chiseled 300 lbs frame equipped with long arms and big hands. While we didn’t get to see any measurables of his athleticism at the combine, his rare blend of strength and athleticism was displayed game in and game out while at Mississippi State. This will allow him to succeed in multiple defensive fronts. He would line up all over the line in college whether as a 3-technique (outside shoulder of the guard) in a three-man front or as 1-technique (either shoulder of the center) in a four-man front. He even played a little 0-tech (head up on center) when the Bulldogs switched to a nickel, pass-rushing package. The guy has the ability to play all across the line, but I suspect him to play the other 3-tech opposite of Jurrell Casey in the Titans base 3-4 defense. He’s a quick-twitch athlete that easily converts his speed to power as he consistently would beat blockers to the point of attack and throw them off. There were many times he will stand up opposing guards straight up and drive them back a few yards. He’s a fluid athlete that moves well laterally and vertically. This allows him slide and shoot through gaps after initial punch off the line. While the physical traits are off the chart, he doesn’t possess great instincts at this stage of his career. Sometimes he’ll be so concentrated on dominating the man in front of him that he loses sight of the ball and will take himself out of the play. As most college defensive linemen prospects need, developing a few more countermoves will help him as a pass rusher, but he can get by with the moves already in his arsenal. The great thing about Simmons is that his weaknesses are all coachable and I have no doubt that Mike Vrabel and staff will coach him up in no time. While he may never rack up huge sack numbers, he will be a major disruptor that is constantly applying pressure. His presence will also free up players like Casey and Harold Landry to get after the QB like it did for Montez Sweat at Mississippi State.
The situations off the field are what caused hesitation by certain teams on draft night. As stated earlier, Simmons was caught on video assaulting a woman while he was in high school. There is no excuse for violence of that nature (even if he was defending a family member), but Simmons has seemingly done all the right things since the incident. Everyone that has known Simmons from his time as Mississippi State has raved about his character, work ethic, and leadership ability. It seems like he was a good kid who made a terrible decision in the moment. While he will always have to carry his past with him, there shouldn’t be any concerns about this happening in the future. The other concern with Simmons is his torn ACL. While he should be able to fully recover and get back to normal, it will take some time and you never know how an injury will affect someone. Even if he does come back completely healthy, his return won’t happen until around November even with the most optimistic outlooks. Unless he is a freak of nature and has an Adrian Peterson like recovery, then this will most likely be redshirt year for him.
After seeing multiple targets selected in front of them, the Titans were left with only a few options. They could’ve traded back or reached on an offensive playmaker, but they decided to go with the best player available which happens to be a great fit for them. Simmons is a tremendous player with All-Pro potential that could be running mates with Jurrell Casey for years to come. To get that kind of talent at the 19th pick is a steal. The only reason this pick isn’t an A+ is because he won’t be able to contribute right away, and that hurts for a team that is looking to go from “good to great” this season. In 3-4 years when Simmons is wreaking havoc on opposing offenses with Casey and Harold Landry, we’ll all forget about this one year of waiting.
Grade: A-