Packers’ Isaiah Simmons Playing ‘New’ Position, And It Showed

In this year’s preseason, 153 linebackers have played at least 10 snaps on defense. According to Pro Football Focus, Simmons’ grade for his performance against the Jets on Saturday ranks 148th.

With Quay Walker working his way back from offseason ankle surgery, Simmons, Isaiah McDuffie and Edgerrin Cooper have worked as the No. 1 trio in the base defense all summer. Once Walker is fully back – he practiced last week but didn’t play in the game – he and Edgerrin Cooper will be the every-down players. That leaves Simmons and McDuffie competing for the third spot.

Both players had four tackles against the Jets. Simmons played 39 snaps, working deep into the night. Only two defensive players logged more snaps. That’s the type of workload typically given to fringe players. By contrast, the proven and reliable McDuffie played only 10.

“He’s got to go out there and do it within our defense for us to feel confident to put him out there and be a key contributor to our defense,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Sunday. “I thought he got some good work in yesterday.”

Simmons was the eighth pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. Simmons played linebacker in college – he won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker at Clemson – and he’s playing it with the Packers. However, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley on Sunday said Simmons is playing a “new position.”

Last season with the Giants, for instance, most of Simmons’ action came in the slot. It was the same story in 2022, when he had 99 tackles, two interceptions and seven passes defensed with the Cardinals.

It’s not that Simmons hasn’t played linebacker in the NFL. He just hasn’t gotten to focus on it.

“He’s had a good camp,” Hafley said. “We had him on the outside a little bit (and) we had him inside in the box a little bit last night. A lot of stuff he’s doing for the first time. I thought he did some good things and there’s some things he needs to correct, which is what the preseason is for and what camp is for.

“But I thought he’s done some really nice things in practice, hopefully, that will continue and he’ll get more comfortable and we’ll see that translate to the field. He certainly got a lot of snaps last night, for the reason he’s playing a different position and we want to see how much experience we can get him out there.”

Simmons got turned around in coverage on an early completion to wide-open Andrew Beck and got shoved aside on a screen that resulted in a touchdown. He also missed a couple tackles. PFF’s grades shouldn’t be treated as gospel and coverage numbers can be difficult to ascertain based on scheme and roles, but PFF charged him with 5-of-6 passing for 76 yards and a perfect 158.3 passer rating.

“He’s learning new calls, learning new techniques, so I think the more and more he does stuff, the more comfortable he’ll get and the faster he’ll play,” linebackers coach Sean Duggan said.

Is that starting to happen?

“Yeah, I think when you look at the body of work so far in camp, it’s been really good,” Duggan said. “I think last night, he’d be the first to say he wished he had some plays back, but that’s why these preseason games are so great. There’s stuff we can correct, there’s stuff we can improve on. Overall, he’s had a good camp.”

At the 2020 Scouting Combine, Simmons measured 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds with 4.39 speed in the 40. His Relative Athletic Score was 9.97. So, the skill-set could make him an intriguing weapon.

Simmons isn’t just competing for a starting job and a role on the defense. He’s competing just to land a spot on the roster. The Packers are strong at linebacker with Cooper, Walker, McDuffie and last year’s third-round pick, Ty’Ron Hopper. Special teams could be the deciding factor; another linebacker, Kristian Welch, has an extensive track record in the kicking game.

Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia has started using Simmons as a flier – aka gunner – on the punt team. He had two reps against the Jets, one of which he helped force a fair catch.

“We played him two plays out there at flier and thought he did a really good job on the first one. On the second one, he could’ve stayed a little bit tighter in there,” Bisaccia said. “We’re asking him to do some things he hasn’t done before in the kicking game to try to use his abilities to help all of us, and he’s on the come. But we played him a little bit on kickoff as well as two punt returns. So, hopefully, we’ll up his reps in the kicking game as we get going.”