Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim didn’t have to think too hard about what to do when it came time to make the eighth overall pick on Thursday night.
Isaiah Simmons was on the board and Keim said he couldn’t recall seeing a player with the package of skills that Simmons displayed while at Clemson. He saw time as a linebacker, edge rusher, safety and slot corner, which spoke to his athletic ability well before he impressed across the board at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Keim said that versatility made picking Simmons a “pretty easy decision” for the Cardinals.
“When you watch him on tape and you see him play the deep middle, the deep half, you see him play in the box, you see him blitz, rush the passer. He’s sort of a Swiss Army knife and does it all and we call that kind of a player an eraser in this league,” Simmons said, via SI.com.
The question of taking Simmons was an easy one for the Cardinals to answer. Now they’ll move onto figuring out how to maximize his abilities as one of 11 players on their defense.