The Arizona Cardinals selected linebacker Isaiah Simmons with the eighth overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. They believe he will be great. However, his rookie season was disappointing, mostly because he didn’t get a ton of playing time.
Perhaps it is for that reason that, in a redo of the first round of the 2020 draft by Draft Wire managing editor Luke Easterling, Simmons not only does not get selected by the Cardinals with the eighth overall pick, he is not selected at all in the first round.
Simmons finished the season with some decent stats, despite playing only 376 defensive snaps. He had 54 tackles, two sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.
Two off-the-ball linebackers were first-round picks in the redraft. Kenneth Murray and Patrick Queen were selected 23rd and 24th, respectively.
Queen had 106 tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles, playing 80% of his team’s defensive snaps. Murray had 110 tackles and a sack, playing 93% of his team’s defensive snaps.
Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said Simmons was the best defensive rookie in the league at the end of the year. Simmons learned six positions last season in a pandemic year with no offseason or preseason.
Was his production disappointing? Not when he was on the field. The playing time was.
Simmons will probably be a more impactful linebacker than Murray or Queen because of his athleticism and ability to make plays in coverage.
Excluding him from the first round in this redraft is ridiculous. Just because he didn’t play as much as some top-10 picks would, especially considering the season it was in the pandemic, doesn’t mean he isn’t still every bit the player the Cardinals hope he will be.
They are placing a tone of trust in Simmons this season. He will have the chance to prove he was worth the eighth overall pick this season.
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