Packers LB Isaiah Simmons subtly criticizes how he was used with Arizona Cardinals

USA Today

10 hours ago

Packers LB Isaiah Simmons subtly criticizes how he was used with Arizona Cardinals Simmons is focusing on a specific role with the Packers, saying he was basically asked to do much earlier in his career
Isaiah Simmons ended up being somewhat of a disappointment for the Arizona Cardinals as a former first-round draft pick, selected eighth overall in 2020. He did have a pair of productive seasons in 2021 and 2022, but he didn't end up fitting with the culture and the defense when Jonathan Gannon became head coach in 2023. He was traded to the New York Giants before the 2023 season and played two seasons there in a reserve role.
Now he is a member of the Green Bay Packers.
As Cardinals fans will remember, he was drafted as a super athletic, super intelligent, versatile player. He played all over the field for Clemson and the Cardinals wanted him to be an inside linebacker with defensive back skills. One of his strengths was his abilities to have a lot of roles, something he relished in.
With the Packers under defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, he is focused on linebacker.
He doesn't appear to relish in the versatility at this point, which might sound like a shot at the Cardinals.
'I think really what I ran into most of my career is everybody wants me to do everything, as opposed to letting me get really good at one thing first,' Simmons said during minicamp this past week. 'I fully believe in Haf's plan. He's letting me just lock in and learn a small portion first before we even think about expanding to anything else. That's something I really appreciate, because I never really had that opportunity to really just hone in on one position...just being able to lock in on one thing, and do that 1/11 every day, that's been huge for me."
He hasn't come close the production that he had with the Cardinals in 2021-2022 under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. He logged 1,005 and then 896 defensive snaps those seasons. In two seasons, he played a combined 558 defensive snaps for the Giants, who were not good. He totaled 71 total tackles, one sack, one interception, five pass breakups and two forced fumbles in two seasons.
Playing a varied role of linebacker and in the slot in 2022 alone with the Cardinals, he had 99 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions, seven pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
It seems that Vance Joseph was the only coach to get anything productive out of Simmons.
Gannon saw him as a safety in 2023, but he played linebacker for the Giants and now is again at linebacker for the Packers.
Perhaps this will unlock his production again, but the fact of the matter is that he never played better than when he was in multiple roles for the Cardinals under Vance Joseph.
The Cardinals with face Simmons and the Packers in Week 7 at State Farm Stadium.
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