On Saturday morning, the Titans activated rookie Defensive Tackle, Jeffery Simmons to the active roster. Simmons tore his ACL last year while training for the Draft, and he is back from injury earlier than many expected. Simmons was drafted 19th overall by the Titans in the 2019 draft.
Simmons is 6"4 and 305lbs. He is 22 years old, and he went to Mississippi State. In college, Simmons recorded 163 total tackles and 7 sacks in 3 years. Simmons also forced 5 fumbles and had 33 tackles for a loss. Simmons was thought by many to be a top 10 talent, but due to his injury, he fell to 19. One of the Titans biggest problems last season was a lack of pass rush and Simmons was brought in to change that. His expected return date was around Thanksgiving, so I hope the Titans are not rushing him back as a response to their recent poor performance.
In order to make space for Simmons, the Titans released DT Matt Dickerson. Dickerson only played 2 games with the Titans in 2019 and he recorded 1 tackle and 1 QB hit on 24 snaps. The team also released DE Brent Urban who was signed by the team during the offseason. The resulting move of that was promoting OLB Derrick Roberson. Roberson was likely promoted due to the injuries of Shariff Finch, Cameron Wake, and Jayon Brown whose injuries lead to a lack of depth at OLB.
Before being activated, Simmons was on the NFI (Non football injury) list. The NFI list is for players that were not injured on the football field. This also includes injuries suffered before the player joined the league. It was widely believed that Simmons would spend a large part of the season on the NFI list but after a good week of practice, Simmons was activated to the 53 man roster.
The move is great for the Titans but it could backfire greatly if Simmons were to re-injure his knee. Simmons can disrupt the line and help the Titans pass rush immensely. It will probably take him a little while to get settled but it will be very interesting to see the Titans first round pick play on Sunday.
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