Packers Hint at ‘Vision’ for Former Top-10 Pick Isaiah Simmons

The Green Bay Packers didn’t draft a linebacker last week, but they did add a top-10 draft pick.

With the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals, Isaiah Simmons lined up here, there and everywhere. With the Packers, he will join the linebackers, coach Matt LaFleur said at rookie camp on Friday.

“I think he’s a very talented player and he’s played a lot of ball in this league, and just try(ing) to get him acclimated with our system,” LaFleur said. “The thing that you love about him is he’s got a lot of versatility to do a lot of different things.”

With the New York Giants last year, Simmons didn’t have much of a role under first-year coordinator Shane Bowen. Of his 181 defensive snaps, he played 86 as a slot corner and 73 as an in-the-box linebacker. In 2023 under venerable coordinator Wink Martindale, his 378 snaps included 166 in the box, 137 on the defensive line and 65 in the slot.

The eighth pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2020, Simmons in 2021 started all 17 games and set career highs with 105 tackles, seven passes defensed and four forced fumbles. Of 1,005 defensive snaps, he played 587 at linebacker, 233 on the defensive line and 161 in the slot.

In 2022, Simmons started 13 of 17 appearances and had 99 tackles, seven passes defensed again, and career highs of five tackles for losses and two interceptions. He played 897 defensive snaps, with 509 in the slot, 297 at linebacker, 110 on the defensive line and 53 at free safety.

“I know in New York, just when we went against him a couple years ago, specifically situationally, he was all over the place,” LaFleur continued. “So, I think that just tells you his mental capacity, in order to be able to understand defensive schemes. And we had a lot of great conversations with him leading up to him signing with us. I know he’s working hard at it. I think we have a vision for him, and we’ll just watch and see how that progresses over time.”

The Packers played against Simmons twice, when he was with the Cardinals in 2021 and the Giants in 2023. He had six tackles in the 2021 matchup.

Simmons earned a key endorsement from All-Pro Packers safety Xavier McKinney, who was with Simmons in New York in 2023. 

“Yes, I asked X, and X gave it two thumbs up,” LaFleur said. “That is meaningful, though, when you have a player like X, coming from New York, who was a teammate with him, and you just ask those questions. He said he’s a great teammate, and that’s all I needed to hear.”

In five NFL seasons, McKinney has played in all 84 games. Of his 42 starts, 37 came with the Cardinals but only five in two seasons in New York. For his career, he’s recorded 329 tackles, five interceptions, nine forced fumbles, 21 passes defensed, 8.5 sacks and 15 tackles for losses.

The Packers are strong at linebacker with Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie, Ty’Ron Hopper and the return of veteran Kristian Welch. They are strong at safety, too, with McKinney joined by talented second-year players Javon Bullard, Evan Williams, Kitan Oladapo as well as Zayne Anderson.

Simmons is a unique player, though, because he’s got the size of a linebacker but the speed to match almost any player on the field. At the 2020 Scouting Combine, he measured 6-foot-3 5/8 and 239 pounds. He ran his 40 in 4.39 seconds and had a 39-inch vertical jump.

“In the spring,” Giants cornerback Dru Phillips said, "I was looking at him and thinking, ‘How is he going to do this?’ He’s just so big but you see him out there covering guys like (receiver) Wan’Dale Robinson and whatnot. It’s surprising, but he’s a freak of nature and he’s blessed for the talents that he’s got.”

At Clemson in 2019, Simmons won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker.

“I would do everything in college,” he said at the 2020 Combine. “Just kind of like a Swiss Army knife, move me around because then I’m able to show what I can really do. I wouldn’t say I’m really tied down to one position. (Defensive coordinator Brent) Venables really used me in a really special way that most people aren’t able to be used.”