If you read a pre-draft analysis of Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons you saw this nugget: He played at least 100 snaps at five different positions last season for the Tigers.
That versatility is what made Simmons so attractive to NFL teams and why the Cardinals were thrilled when he fell to them with the No. 8 pick. But in a Zoom news conference call with Valley media Tuesday, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph hinted Simmons won’t be asked to do quite so much for Arizona.
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“I think what he did at Clemson, some of it will translate and some of it won’t,” Joseph said.
General manager Steve Keim said the Cardinals will have to have a plan for Simmons, and apparently, that plan includes paring down his responsibilities. Joseph said Simmons will play outside and inside linebacker, be a dime in sub packages, and at times be used as a strong safety, particularly against a team like San Francisco, which employs a fullback and whose No. 1 target is tight end George Kittle.
But five different positions? Yeah, that ain’t happening.
“His skill set is out of this world,” Joseph said. “… Obviously, he’s a guy who can solve problems for us and with his speed, size and length, he can be an eraser when bad things happen.”
Joseph’s plan shouldn’t be construed as the Cardinals failing to take advantage of Simmons’ versatility. Joseph raved about Simmons’ football IQ, about how he would memorize a different game plan each week from Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables and know where to line up and what to do based on the play call.
“Whatever you told him to do, he could do,” Venables told The Athletic. “It started when he got here as a freshman. I’d send him stuff, play diagrams and told him to learn this dime linebacker position we have. When we had our player-run practices the feedback from all the players is that he was just outstanding at it.
“He could articulate what I asked him, and most freshmen can’t do that. They don’t have the discipline to go through the material so they can retain it and articulate it to me when we’re standing there and having a conversation. He could do all that as a freshman and I was like, ‘Dang.’”
Still, Joseph understands that as smart as Simmons is, as physically gifted as he is — 6 feet 4 inches, 239 pounds with a 4.39 40-yard dash — it wouldn’t be fair to ask him to line up as an outside corner and cover NFL receivers.
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Arizona will still employ him in a variety of ways. Joseph talked about a speed-rush package that would include Simmons, Jordan Phillips, Chandler Jones and Haason Reddick. Simmons will be matched up against tight ends, be used as an outside blitzer and, perhaps, as a spy against a mobile quarterback such as Seattle’s Russell Wilson.
His ability to drop back on passing downs and cover ground with his athleticism also will give Joseph a chance to disguise blitz packages. One example of that came in Clemson’s national semifinal game against Ohio State. Simmons lined up as a free safety over the top of the defense, but when Clemson’s cornerback blitzed, Simmons had the speed to range from the middle of the field to the sideline and pick off the pass.
“The way we used him, it was hard to identify what he is,” Venables said. “Because from a protection standpoint it is important that they are able to identify, ‘Is he the Mike, is he the Sam, is he the Will, is he the safety?
“If you know he’s a safety then you can anticipate certain rotations but if you think he’s a dime and now he’s a safety, that’s a problem. If you think he’s a safety and he actually becomes a corner, that’s a problem.”
“With this kid’s skill set, he can do a lot of things,” Joseph said. “Until we touch (him), until there’s a game plan, I can’t guarantee where he is going to be. If it’s a job that we think he can do, we will put him out there. That’s why he was drafted. I want Isaiah to be Isaiah.”
More Joseph
Joseph was asked about the defensive additions the Cardinals made in free agency and the draft. Here’s his scouting report, so to speak:
- Defensive lineman Jordan Phillips: “Jordan has not hit his ceiling yet. He’s looking to prove everyone wrong, that he can be a top-10 or top-15 D lineman. Obviously, his physical stature is immense. He’s 6-7, 340 pounds and he’s a dancing bear. Hopefully, his better years are ahead of him.
- Outside linebacker Devon Kennard: “He is a guy I’ve been watching for four to five years as a Sam (strongside) linebacker. He’s ideal. He’s heavy-handed versus the run game. He’s a dominant run stopper. He averaged seven sacks a year as a dropper, so hopefully, he should be better for us. A smart, tough football player.”
- Inside linebacker De’Vondre Campell: “He was our top guy in free agency that we thought we couldn’t get because his money was going to be so big, but he came back to us and took a one-year deal just to prove himself.”
- Fourth-round pick, defensive lineman Leki Fotu (Utah): “I think when you look at Leki’s size (6-5, 330) everybody assumes he’s a run stopper but in the scheme he played at Utah, he was really coached to keep linebackers clean. He was in more of a squared stance, more catching blocks and just eating gaps. But when you watch this guy move and run, once you put him into an attack stance and allow him to go vertical and be disruptive he’s also going to be a pretty good pass rusher as far as pushing the pocket. … When we watched his tape, he was a really good football player as far as movement for a big guy and how hard the played. It’s hard to find big guys with those kind of motors who play that way every snap because big guys get tired.”
- Fourth-round pick, defensive lineman Rashard Lawrence (LSU): “Coach (Ed) Orgeron called me personally about Lawrence. We were tracking him during the whole draft. He was one of Coach O’s favorite players as a team leader, as a worker, as a technician. Coach O coaches D line for a living so he knows what it looks like.”
- Sixth-round pick, inside linebacker Evan Weaver (California): “Before I watched Weaver I had no idea who he was. I get my list of guys to watch from the scouts and I just press play. I press play and I came away with a really good football player, not knowing he was Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Joseph said the additions to the defense, along with the anticipation that starting cornerbacks Patrick Peterson and Robert Alford will be available at the start of the season, have led him to one conclusion.
“We should be a lot better,” he said.
(Photo of Simmons at the NFL Scouting Combine: Michael Conroy / Associated Press)