Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons has been drawing rave reviews from players around the NFL after his impressive 2021 season, and Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald is the latest to shower Simmons with praise.
While speaking to the media ahead of Super Bowl LVI, Donald called Simmons “a special type of talent” and believes the Mississippi State product has “a great career in front of him,” per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.
“I think he’s a great football player, and I think he is growing into his own,” Donald said. “I think he made some noise last year, but he made a big name for himself this year. Obviously, we played (the Titans) this year and I saw him – he had three sacks when we played him, so he showed up then. I think he is going to be a special talent, one of the top d-tackles in this league. He is growing and having a lot of production on the field, and I think he will continue to do that.
“I think he is a special type of talent definitely. For the interior position, to be play the run the way he does and then translate that in pass rush, I think he is going to have a great career in front of him.”
Simmons is coming off a career year for Tennessee. His 8.5 sacks were a new career-high, and he added another three in the divisional-round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Stats don’t tell the whole story of just how much of an impact he makes, though. Simmons is a disruptive force who draws double teams, which, in turn, opens things up for the guys around him, something that doesn’t show up in the box score.
As far as any advice Donald has for Simmons, it’s pretty simple: keep working.
“I’d just tell him to keep working,” Donald said of Simmons. “Obviously what he is doing, whatever he is doing, is working for him, so continue to work, never get satisfied.
“The sky is the limit for him.”