In a strategic move two days prior to their preseason finale, the New York Giants have undertaken a calculated transaction.
The Giants have secured Isaiah Simmons from the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2024.
At 25 years old, Simmons undoubtedly possesses talent. He was initially drafted eighth overall by the Cardinals in 2020, but his versatility has posed a challenge in defining his primary position.
During his second preseason game last week, Simmons played 25 snaps at safety, marking a positional switch he made this offseason. This transition followed three seasons of playing across various defensive roles under former coach Kliff Kingsbury and former defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
The Giants plan to deploy the 6-foot-4, 238-pound Simmons as a linebacker. This move is not necessarily aimed at immediately slotting him into the starting inside linebacker position beside Bobby Okereke (with second-year LB Micah McFadden impressing during camp and currently occupying that role). Instead, it is designed to capitalize on Simmons’ versatility as a hybrid linebacker/safety/rusher/Blitzer, which aligns with defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s system.
“One NFC executive told ESPN that Simmons is a really talented athlete but an average football player. He’s a perfect project for Wink Martindale, and if anyone can position him for success, Martindale can,” noted the source.
Martindale reaffirmed on Wednesday that he manages a “positionless defense” to some extent. His task now is to harness Simmons’ potential into consistent performance. Simmons recorded 105 tackles in 2021 and 95 in the previous season. He also notched seven passes defended in each of the past two years.
Simmons epitomizes a versatile, multi-talented player without a fixed position. Over his three seasons with the Cardinals, he split his time as follows: 40% at outside linebacker, 23.3% at inside linebacker, and 26.6% at cornerback
Giants coach Brian Daboll expressed the rationale behind the trade, stating, “That is one of the reasons why we made the trade. We thought there was an upside there. Again, we’ll put him in. We’ll ask him to do quite a bit of things just to see what he takes to. A guy that is athletic, explosive, and has good size. Seen him do some multiple things.”
Simmons’ most probable role will involve serving as a sub-package linebacker, similar to how the Giants utilized veteran safety Tony Jefferson last season. However, Simmons is young and significantly more explosive at this juncture of his career.
The challenge facing the Giants will be to persuade Simmons to embrace this role. In the past, Simmons expressed a preference for playing safety, where he excelled at Clemson. However, this didn’t align with the plans of the new Arizona regime during the summer.
Now in New York, it appears he’s once again set to operate primarily as a linebacker.
The fact that Simmons was acquired for just a seventh-round pick reflects the current perception of his value within the league. It’s worth noting that his rookie contract will conclude at the end of this season, as the Cardinals declined his fifth-year option earlier this year.
Nonetheless, the specifics of his contract matter little to the Giants at this point. Their primary objective is to explore the untapped talent they believe Simmons possesses and determine how his athleticism can be utilized effectively within Martindale’s blitz-heavy scheme.
Simmons brings with him a career record of 7.5 sacks, four interceptions, and seven forced fumbles.
General manager Joe Schoen remarked, “I’d say it’s obviously pretty early but Joe has done a good job with his staff just evaluating and keeping open conversations just about a number of players, him being one of them. Explosive. High pick. … We’ll put him in our system and start teaching him our stuff,” indicating their eagerness to integrate Simmons into the Giants’ defensive scheme.
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