Jurrell Casey was one of the NFL’s best interior pass rushers during his time with the Tennessee Titans, but is Jeffery Simmons poised to top his career year?
Stats don’t give the full story, but Bleacher Report is predicting that Jeffery Simmons will have a better statistical season in 2020 than Jurrell Casey ever had.
You know what? I agree.
Understand, I am not throwing any shade towards Jurrell Casey who will go down as one of the greatest interior pass rushers in the history of a franchise that has had some outstanding defensive tackles.
What I am saying is that Jeffery Simmons is incredibly dominant and there is a strong argument to be made that from the moment he stepped on the field he was the 2019’s Titans best defensive tackle. That happened without any offseason work with the defense and just 8 months after tearing his ACL.
Now, imagine what a guy who had that level of impact immediately can do with another year of conditioning and a defense that now knows they need to set him up for success.
If you can’t imagine it, don’t worry because Bleacher Report has done it for you calling Jeffery Simmons one of the potential breakout stars of 2020:
"Simmons started seven of the last nine games of his rookie term, finishing with 18 tackles, four for loss, two sacks and a pass breakup. He played sparingly during the playoffs, logging fewer than 47 percent of the defensive snaps in each contest.…Typically, players need a year to feel like themselves after an ACL tear. Simmons’ 18 solo tackles fresh off a significant knee injury show he’s tough to block on the inside. At full strength, the Mississippi State product seems primed to wreak havoc on offensive lines.Stat Projection: 58 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 9 sacks, 4 forced fumbles"
Jurrell Casey never had a season with 14 TFLs and he only had one season with more than 7 sacks. When you combine those two stats, Simmons would have 23 impact tackles while Casey never had more than 21.5.
To top all of that off, Simmons isn’t even a guy who is usually designed to make the play. His overwhelming power and aggression result in him keeping linebackers clean and allowing others to shine, so imagining him doing that while also racking up stats would truly make him one of the stars of the NFL at just 23 years old.