Arizona Cardinals linebacker and 2020 first-round pick Isaiah Simmons has been a defensive nomad throughout his career.
One season (or game), he’s here. The next, he’s there.
Simmons stuffed the stat sheet in the process but hasn’t been able to call any one position home for very long despite his familiarity with former defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
For new DC Nick Rallis, it’s all about maximizing Simmons’ potential one position at a time, something the coordinator feels the linebacker is more than capable of.
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“Coming in as an outsider, you think, ‘Isaiah Simmons, this guy is one of the best athletes in the NFL’ and he is,” Rallis told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke on Wednesday. “But what you don’t realize is how intelligent he is. Just being able to work with him and understand that this guy’s a student of the game.
“When you first arrive, you say, ‘This guy can do this, this guy can do this, this guy can do this,’” the DC added. “But hang on, is that fair to the player? Let’s make sure whatever we ask him to do first, he masters it. And then once he masters that, let’s master the next thing. You better believe he has the skillset to do all those things.”
That should be music to Cardinals fans’ ears after enduring back-to-back seasons of not knowing exactly where Simmons fit into Arizona’s defensive scheme.
Pegged as the team’s star backer last year, Simmons played inside and outside linebacker, safety and cornerback, where he logged the majority of his 2022 snaps (409).
The constant shuffling showed up on the stat line, with Simmons racking up 99 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions, seven passes defensed and two forced fumbles.
For the most part, Simmons performed well at multiple positions from week to week, but he was never great at one thing. Bad practice habits at the beginning of the season didn’t help, either, although Simmons did respond following his benching by former head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
It’s now on Rallis to quickly find the answer to the Simmons question given Arizona’s decision against picking up the linebacker’s fifth-year option this offseason.