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2019 NFL Draft Tennessee Titans instant grade: Jeffery Simmons

By Will Lomas

STARKVILLE, MS - NOVEMBER 23: head coach Dan Mullen of the Mississippi State Bulldogs talks with Jeffery Simmons #94 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the second half of an NCAA football game at Davis Wade Stadium on November 23, 2017 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)
STARKVILLE, MS - NOVEMBER 23: head coach Dan Mullen of the Mississippi State Bulldogs talks with Jeffery Simmons #94 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the second half of an NCAA football game at Davis Wade Stadium on November 23, 2017 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images) /
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Breaking down the grade on Jeffery Simmons to the Tennessee Titans.

Sometimes the draft just falls poorly, and that is what happened for the Tennessee Titans.

With all of the top EDGEs and DTs gone, the Titans were forced into a tough situation. When it was all said and done they landed on taking Jeffery Simmons DT, Mississippi State.

What is he? (The negatives)

Simmons is nothing in 2019, that is how the Tennessee Titans need to view him. After tearing an ACL in February, you don’t have any athletic testing on him to gauge what kind of athlete he is. So that is question #1.

From a production standpoint, you have a player with solid TFL and tackle stats are pretty good, but then you look at his sacks and it gets disappointing. 7 sacks in 38 games is not good at all, especially for a player who was supposed to be a top-5 talent in this draft when healthy according to many. That is question #2.

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If you haven’t heard (which seems impossible) he was involved in a situation where he punched a woman multiple times while she was on the ground in a fight with a family member of Simmons. He has owned up to this and been a model citizen by all accounts, but that is a video that will be on his resume forever. That is question #3.

I talked about how Simmons didn’t test because of an ACL injury, but that may have been burying the lead. He injured his ACL in February and it is VERY unlikely that he will play at all this year. So, let’s just go ahead and say that he does nothing in 2019, then you have to also remember that ACL injuries hurt players for two years.

That means that Simmons probably won’t be fully healthy until 2021, if he ever gets back to full strength which isn’t a given. That is question #4.

What is he? (The positives)

At his peak, he is a heavy handed 1-technique who could line up next to Jurrell Casey and compliment him well. He obviously isn’t much or a pass rusher, but he is disruptive often finding himself moving quarterbacks off the spot and forcing them into outside rush.

While we don’t have testing on him, he looked strong and pretty lean for a guy who measured in at 6’4, 305 lb. You hate to play this game, but if I was guessing I would say that he would have had an above average combine and would have solidified himself as a top-10 pick.

Assuming that he can recover faster than the normal athlete and that there are no long term issues, he has the power, technique and balance to be a real problem for opposing run games. On top of that he can help collapse a pocket and boost the pass rush even if he is never a real productive himself.

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What did the Tennessee Titans pass on to get him?

The big issue for me is that if you have no other players with 1st round grades on your board, fine take a guy who won’t help you this year but who is an actual 1st round caliber talent.

Instead, with guys like Montez Sweat, Cody Ford, Marquise Brown, A.J. Brown, Erik McCoy, and Jerry Tillery all still on the board it just seems like this pick wasn’t their best option.

If you are in love with Simmons, fine. Trade down and take him there or land another 1st round caliber player with that pick. However, Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson didn’t do that and now the Titans need a strong Day 2 to really have a great draft.

Instant Grade: “C-“

The talent is there, but there are a lot of concerns from health to character that pushed him down the board. Despite that, the Tennessee Titans decided that even though this was a crucial year for Marcus Mariota, they would pass on taking someone that can make an immeidate impact and instead they would roll the dice on someone that may have a chance to be very good in a year or so.

That seems like flawed thinking, and unless the Titans come out and announce that they have signed a stop-gap DT to help them next year while Simmons rests up on IR, then this pick just doesn’t provide a lot of value.

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