Miami Dolphins should look at Jeffery Simmons in round two
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins may try to trade down in round one if one of Chris Grier’s top 5 must draft players are not available and Jeffery Simmons should be a target.
Defensive tackle is a big need for the Miami Dolphins as they rebuild their roster. They are not expected to be very good in 2019 so taking Jeffery Simmons later in round one would not be a big mistake.
Simmons is coming off an ACL tear that will keep him out of the 2019 season. The injury was suffered during positional drills while training for the NFL Draft. His stock has taken a pretty big hit. Expected to be a potential top 10 draft pick, some say as high as seven, Simmons now will be drafted late in round one or maybe even round two.
For the Dolphins, getting Simmons on the team isn’t important this year as they continue to rebuild but Simmons is expected to fully recover as many players before him has. Is he a risk to take in this years draft knowing he won’t contribute for another year? Yes.
Simmons is considered, or at least was, one of if not the top defensive tackle in this draft until his injury. Teams will typically pull them off their draft board when big injuries like this occur but for the Dolphins it could be a gift wrapped nicely.
Ideally, the first round wouldn’t be all that special. Miami could take a chance and wait out the 2nd round and hope that he falls or they could make a move up to get him earlier in round two if he is still there. Getting Simmons in round two would be a great pick-up, especially if the Dolphins can fill another need with their first round draft pick.
When healthy, Simmons was near unstoppable at Mississippi State. While the Dolphins should be looking hard at Simmons in round two, there are plenty of teams that will also be looking at him in late round one early round two. What the Dolphins shouldn’t do is summarily dismiss him off their boards. He could provide a big impact to the defense in 2020.