Why Isaiah Simmons’ Performance in the National Championship Should Have Caught the Eye of the Jaguars
It was almost jarring to see how much talent was on the field of Monday's College Football Playoff National Championship contest between LSU and Clemson. Play after play was being made by droves of players on each team. It looked more like an NFL Draft All-Star game than a matchup between two schools.
And even with wave after wave of impressive performers in the 42-25 LSU win -- such as Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase, and many others -- Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons is the player whose performance should land him directly on the Jacksonville Jaguars' radar for the No. 9 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Calling Simmons a linebacker doesn't exactly do him justice. He is a talent who transcends labels and conventional defensive strategy. He is simply listed as such because of the age-old tradition of pegging a player as one specific position and calling it a day
Instead, Simmons is a true swiss army knife who can do anything and everything for a defense. Despite Monday's 42-25 LSU victory, Simmons showed this over and over again.
In Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables ' gameplan to combat LSU's historic offense, Venables let Simmons do what he does best, and what should entice Jacksonville. He lined him up all over the field, using him as a roving chess piece to combat whatever LSU was throwing at Clemson.
Whether it was making plays by forcing incompletions due to pressuring Burrow off of the edge or as a blitzing demon up the middle, or covering tight ends and slot receivers and breaking up short to intermediate passes, Simmons did his best to limit the Tigers' lethal passing offense. Burrow diced up Clemson, but not because of Simmons. Without Simmons, it could have been much worse.
Against the run, Simmons (6-feet-4, 230 pounds) did a good job setting the edge as a strongside linebacker and was better than expected as a downhill linebacker. He managed to work his way through traffic and make several run stops on plays up the middle, answering perhaps the No. 1 question many would have about his fit with the Jaguars due to their need for a linebacker who can play the run.
When it comes to Jacksonville's needs on defense, the hole at linebacker is evident, but the void in playmakers is even larger. Simmons could step in and be Jacksonville's top linebacker almost immediately from a traditional sense, but he could also be their new X-Factor on defense.
Like Jalen Ramsey in the past, Simmons is a physical freak who Jacksonville could deploy to combat their opponents top offensive weapon week in and week out. Simmons proved the ability to do as much on Monday night.
Do not let the chances of Todd Wash coaching the Jaguars' defense deter the idea of Simmons in black and teal, either. Players typically last much longer than coordinators, and basing any pick off of one defensive coordinator's ability to deploy a versatile threat is a mistake that would cost Jacksonville dearly.
Wash could misuse Simmons for one year and play him strictly at linebacker instead of letting him roam the field, ala Derwin James and Tyran Mathieu, but would this really be that bad? Chances are Wash would not be long for Jacksonville with another year of mismanaging the defense, while Simmons would be playing at TIAA Bank Field for the foreseeable future. Plus, Simmons as a linebacker alone is still an incredible prospect.
In 2019, Simmons (a former safety) recorded 104 tackles (15.5 for loss), eight sacks, three interceptions, seven pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. He did this on his way to winning the Butkus Award, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award, Unamous First-team All-American honors, and First-Team All-ACC honors.
Simmons had a spectacular college career and a spectacular National Championship performance, even in a loss. He is likely going to make one NFL defense very, very happy in 2020. Whether Jacksonville even has a chance to be that team is up in the air since Simmons could be drafted much earlier than ninth overall.
But if Jacksonville does have a chance to bring Simmons into the fold, and ultimately decide to, there shouldn't be many concerns. After all, he has extinguished all of those concerns over and over again.
