via Packers.com<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s a very eager player right now, and he\u2019s extremely athletic.\u201d<\/p>\nDuggan also sees \u201cspecial\u201d versatility in Simmons, who provides value with his ability to be a chess piece that can be deployed in a variety of ways on the defensive side of the ball.<\/p>\n
In his NFL career to this point, Simmons has shown flashes of the versatility, athleticism and overall potential and talent that enticed the Arizona Cardinals to take him with the eighth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-4, 238-pounder can make plays both rushing the passer and dropping back in coverage, while he can contribute on special teams as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think his versatility is going to be something that\u2019s pretty special,\u201d Duggan said. \u201cI don\u2019t think you see a lot of 6-4 guys that are 240 pounds that can run a 4.3. But I see a guy who, just like everybody, he\u2019s putting his head down. He\u2019s working, he\u2019s trying to learn the defense. He\u2019s learning the way we do things here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simmons, who spent the last two seasons playing for the New York Giants, was traded to New York from the Cardinals prior to the 2023 season and then re-signed with the Giants as a free agent last offseason.<\/p>\n
He appeared in all 17 games (one start) for New York in 2024, logging 181 total defensive snaps and tallying 21 total tackles, one quarterback hit, a forced fumble and two passes defended.<\/p>\n
In 84 games (42 starts) over his NFL career with the Cardinals and Giants from 2020-24, the 26-year-old Simmons has recorded 329 total tackles (15 for loss), 8.5 sacks, 13 quarterback hits, 21 passes defended, nine forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and five interceptions, including two he returned for touchdowns.<\/p>\n
\u2013Photo courtesty of Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Clemson star Isaiah Simmons is motivated and determined heading into his sixth NFL season, according to his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,2604,1327,5320,7,5324,5322,6,5321,5323,5325],"class_list":{"0":"post-92515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-arizonacardinals","11":"tag-cardinals","12":"tag-clemson-insider-podcast","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-gymnastics","15":"tag-hero","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-noonan","18":"tag-track-and-field","19":"tag-wednesday"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114600881335059395","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}