Clemson football: Isaiah Simmons ‘under pressure’ heading into second NFL year

Former Clemson football LB/S Isaiah Simmons was taken with the No. 8 overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals in the first-round of the 2020 NFL Draft, but things didn’t necessarily go as smoothly for him during his rookie season as many would’ve liked.

After bouncing around positions, Simmons finished the 2020 season with 54 total tackles, two sacks and one interception with limited snaps (he started seven games). For many rookies that would be considered a solid year, but Simmons was held to a much higher standard as a top-10 pick following his standout career with Clemson football.

Pro Football Focus recently listed the NFL players heading into their second-year under the most pressure. Simmons was near the top of that list.

Here’s what PFF had to say about Simmons’ rookie season and the pressure he faces as he heads into Year 2 with the Cardinals.

"“Few players were surrounded by the kind of hype Simmons was during the pre-draft process. A height/weight/speed monster who had spent much of his college career actually playing defensive back — or a role more like “positionless destroyer of offenses” — the idea of what Simmons could do at the NFL level had people incredibly excited.Then along came the giant bullseye that Kyle Shanahan painted all over Simmons before Week 1. The 49ers exploited Simmons’ inexperience of actually playing linebacker so badly that he was effectively benched; he didn’t see more than 20 snaps until Week 6 and didn’t clear 30 until Week 8, but as the year wore on, we started to see what he could do when he puts it all together.At least in his rookie season, the idea of Isaiah Simmons was significantly more attractive than the reality of his play, so now Year 2 gives him the opportunity to prove all of those proponents correct with a big step forward.”"

USA Today’s Cards Wire noted that Simmons is undoubtedly under pressure heading into the season, but there were signs over the later portion of 2020 that he was developing.

The former Clemson football star will finally have a regular offseason to fit into the system

While it’s easy to look at Isaiah Simmons and say that he was a disappointment during his rookie season or say that he didn’t live up to his potential, the one thing we have to point out is that the Cardinals didn’t do him any favors.

He’s a rookie who has shown versatility unlike any prospect in recent history. So, what do you do? You try to pigeon-hole him into a role. That simply isn’t going to work.

There’s no doubt that Simmons can develop into a Pro-Bowl level linebacker at the next level, but Arizona didn’t give him a chance. They put too much on his shoulders too soon and effectively thought he’d be able to come in- after playing a hybrid role- and somehow perform at a high level in a traditional linebacker spot.

Having a regular offseason will go a long way into Simmons’ development and learning his role in the system.

If we were the Cardinals, we would look for ways to get the former Clemson player involved as a hybrid-type linebacker and even plan defensive schemes around his strengths.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how Simmons performs in Year 2 and what he’s able to accomplish this season no matter what the defensive system looks like.