After coming back from an ACL tear in just eight months, Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons put together a solid rookie season in 2019 and showed flashes of being an elite player.
In 2020, Simmons will have an entire offseason to get ready and has shed the knee brace, which was the last trace of the serious injury he suffered last February.
As he prepares to take the torch from Jurrell Casey, who was a staple on the Titans’ defensive line for many years and is now in Denver, Titans fans are expecting the former No. 19 overall pick to have a breakout campaign.
And so is Pro Football Focus’ Sam Monson. He named Simmons in a list of potential breakout candidates for 2020.
A torn ACL caused Jeffery Simmons to slip a little in the 2019 NFL Draft, but rather than fall out of the first round, he was taken by Tennessee at No. 19 overall and actually got back on the field before the halfway point of last season. His NFL debut saw him post a PFF grade above 90.0 and notch three total pressures on only 11 pass-rushing snaps. The rest of his season was a little less dominant, but we nonetheless saw glimpses of the kind of impact he can have, and expectations should be justifiably sky high for Simmons after another year removed from that knee injury. He also gets a much clearer path to playing time on the defensive line with Jurrell Casey traded away after an excellent career with the Titans. Simmons was a top-10 talent in the draft before injury caused a slip, so he could be set to dominate in Year 2.
Prior to his injury, Simmons was thought of as a top 10 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The fact that he was able to return so quickly from the ACL tear only hammers home how good of a value general manager Jon Robinson got.
If Simmons turns into the star we all think he could be, the Mississippi State product could end up being the biggest steal of that draft.
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