Cardinals officially move 2020 first-round LB Isaiah Simmons to safety
Isaiah Simmons isn't a linebacker anymore.
The Arizona Cardinals officially moved the No. 8 overall pick from the 2020 draft to safety this season, head coach Jonathan Gannon announced Monday. Simmons' position is also updated on the team's website and he's listed as a safety on the team's first unofficial depth chart.
"He's been reliable back there, which is the first trait of a safety for me," Gannon said. "He shows some range and some hitting ability, a little bit of coverage ability, a little bit of downhill striking ability. A long way to go but I like where he's at."
This appears to have been the plan all along. Simmons, 25, reportedly asked the new coaching staff for the position change and told reporters in June he had mainly been working with the defensive backs during offseason workouts under Gannon.
Isaiah Simmons told the new staff he didn't want to be at linebacker... Now he's a reliable centerfield safety.
"He's been reliable back there, which is the first trait of a safety to me." - Jonathan Gannon@12SportsAZ pic.twitter.com/46xUV3AJjF— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) August 9, 2023
Simmons already played a lot of defensive back
The 6-foot-4, 238-pound Simmons played the past three seasons with the Cardinals as a linebacker on paper, but mostly saw action in the secondary in 2022. More than half of his 896 defensive snaps were either at slot cornerback (409 snaps), wide cornerback (28 snaps) or free safety (53 snaps), according to Pro Football Focus. He played 297 snaps in the box and 110 on the defensive line.
Simmons' greatest flaw when he was drafted, though, was his positional ambiguity. His size lended itself to both linebacker and safety, but it truly depended on the defense he played in which way he leaned on the field.
During his senior year at Clemson, Simmons also played more than half of his snaps in the secondary and he saw even more time at deep safety than in the NFL, per PFF. He produced first-round talent with eight sacks, 16.5 tackles for a loss, eight pass breakups and three interceptions in 2019 and went ahead of other first-round players like receivers Jerry Jeudy, CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson as well as cornerback A.J. Terrell in the 2020 NFL Draft.
But Simmons' skill set didn't immediately translate to the NFL. He had only 3.5 sacks over his first two seasons, with nine total pass breakups, five forced fumbles and 159 combined tackles. Simmons had a solid third year with the Cardinals in 2022 — four sacks, 99 combined tackles, seven pass breakups and two interceptions — but it wasn't enough for team to pick up his fifth-year option when new general manager Monti Ossenfort was hired in January.
“There were times I was playing a position because we were down with injuries,” Simmons said. “It’s just certain circumstances that played into me playing some positions, as opposed to doing what was best for me.”
Now in this this new role, Simmons said he feels "a little more free, more like myself and my game" as he heads into a critical fourth season. He's technically listed as the team's third safety behind starters Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson.
And while success may not be guaranteed, it is possible for a safety to play at Simmons' size. Four-time Pro Bowler Kam Chancellor was a force for the Seattle Seahawks' Legion of Boom in during the 2010s, though he checked in at a smaller body size at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds. Former Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson — who's now the vice president of player personnel for the Carolina Panthers — also had similar size to Simmons and Chancellor and played 12 years in the league.
Simmons' future now depends entirely on his ability to seamlessly transition into his new position.
