DT Jeffery Simmons, Mississippi St.*

6’4” – 310 lbs. – N/A
Was a defensive end recruit out of high school, but has played defensive tackle throughout his collegiate career. Posted 39-2.5-0.0 as a freshman, starting three of twelve games played, then went 60-12.0-5.0 as a sophomore and 63-17.0-2.0 as a junior before declaring for the draft. Also blocked three kicks as a sophomore. Tall, thickly-built defensive tackle who has good weight distribution and really looks the part. Plays some different techniques and in different fronts; lined up at both tackle spots in even fronts and played both the nose and on the end of three-man lines. Probably projects best as a nose tackle on a four-man line. Disruptive player who made a lot of stops in opposing backfields over the past two years. Comes from a two-gap defensive front and has the lower-body strength to anchor at the line of scrimmage against power. Disciplined in his run fits. Does a good job of holding up against double teams. Gets good extension with his arms and can scrape down the line. Has heavy, active hands to shed blockers and make tackles. Gives pretty good effort in pursuit but may not really have the top-end speed to make many tackles outside the tackles. Balance issues crop up occasionally, especially when his shoulders aren’t square. Gives pretty good effort as a pass-rusher; played in a defense which incorporated some stunts and twists. Isn’t the most explosive player but can threaten to penetrate into the backfield with his swim move; good overall level of activity with his hands. When he is able to time the snap count, can get push with his bull-rush. There can be a little bit too much waste in his pass-rushing approach as he stutter-steps near the line of scrimmage looking for lanes instead of using his first step to threaten. Character will require serious investigation after video emerged of him pummeling a woman in 2016; other considered a good student who is active in the community, but many teams will likely cross him off of their board. Also tore his ACL recently and may need to begin his career on PUP. Offers two-gap run-stuffing ability out of the box, and has the tools to potentially stay on the field for some third downs in the future. Based on his tape alone, would seem like a solid candidate to come off the board in the first round, but his draft stock is a bit of a question mark because of the aforementioned character and injury issues.