It’s pretty much a lock now that Isaiah Simmons is going in the top ten of the draft. He’s probably going top five. The Clemson linebacker just ran a blazing 4.39 40.
As Daniel Jeremiah said “That’s not normal. And as the NFL Network guys like to do, they caught their old longtime draft analyst Mike Mayock reacting to Simmons’s 40 along with Paul Guenther he couldn’t help himself but just burst out laughing, probably mostly at the Mayock’s reaction and partly out of sheer astonishment himself.
We’re talking about a 6-3 5/8, 238-pound human. A defender. And he’s running like a wide receiver. Simmons plays linebacker, but he could probably play one of many positions on the defense, including safety.
Mayock mentioned Simmons unprompted in his combine press conference earlier this week, essentially saying he is just a great football player, regardless of position.
“I think more and more defenses around the league are saying ‘who are the guys that you don’t necessarily have to put a label on that are dynamic football players. And, you know, Isaiah Simmons has played on the back end, he’s played at linebacker, he’s come off the edge. And really the only limitations on him are whatever the defensive coordinator puts on him.”
The Raiders sit at No. 12 overall which means there’s little doubt if they want Simmons, they’d have to trade up to get him.
