Clemson Football: Isaiah Simmons the early MVP of 2019 defense
Clemson football linebacker/safety hybrid Isaiah Simmons announced Monday night that he’d be returning to school for his senior season.
The Clemson football team received huge news for the 2019 season when Isaiah Simmons announced that he’d be returning to school for his senior season.
Simmons was expected to be anywhere from a second-to-mid round draft pick if he so chose to enter the NFL Draft this spring. If he came in to the combine as a mid-rounder, I would’ve thought he could’ve easily worked his way into the second or third round before it was all said and done.
Deciding to return, though, could launch Simmons into the first round of next year’s NFL Draft.
This is huge for Clemson football.
Without Simmons announcing his return, the Tigers would have just two starters returning from last year’s team- Tanner Muse and AJ Terrell.
With Simmons coming back, it gives you a player that is flexible and able to play well in coverage and stop the run.
Simmons was the unsung hero of last year’s defense.
He did a great job in coverage and although he was beaten a few times, more times than not, he was able to get the job done. He’ll only get stronger returning for one more season.
It will be interesting to see how Simmons trains himself this season. Does he attempt to put on a little more weight and play as a more traditional outside linebacker? Does he work on his footwork and play a little bit of linebacker/nickel as well as safety?
I’d imagine you’re going to see him play in that same role, but I do believe that he’ll be used in run-defense more this year than last.
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He certainly has a chance to be a high-round draft pick with one more year of development and he’ll also fill a major hole in the defense this upcoming season.
Isaiah Simmons is the guy you’re going to see the 2019 defense built around and he’s certainly the early choice for Defensive MVP, in my opinion.