The Arizona Cardinals were thrilled to select Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons. He was one of their top players on their entire draft board and many felt he wouldn’t be available for the Cardinals to pick with the eighth overall selection.
General manager Steve Keim would not say exactly where he had Simmons ranked on his board, only saying “he was top five.”
However, something else he said suggests he might have been a little higher than just in their top five.
“Just the way we stacked the board, he was obviously one of the few players we considered elite,” Keim said after the team’s selection. “For a long time, those top couple on the board, I didn’t think there was any chance he was going to be there at our selection.
Things worked out perfectly.
The board had to fall a particular way.
“Are the quarterbacks going to go or is there going to be a run on three or four offensive tackles,” Keim said. “Either way, I just needed a run on either tackles or quarterbacks to get him.”
It was the quarterbacks that did it. The Miami Dolphins selected Tua Tagovailoa fifth overall and the Los Angeles Chargers took Justin Herbert sixth overall. With the New York Giants taking a tackle fourth overall, it meant that when the Cardinals were one pick away, Simmons was still available.
The Panthers went with defensive lineman Derrick Brown. That left Simmons for the Cardinals.
They had the opportunity to trade down.
“I did field some trade calls,” Keim said. “This was a player were not going to pass on.”
They didn’t and now they have added another potential impact player to the defense.
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