Isaiah Simmons could be another trade acquisition victory for Giants GM Joe Schoen
Arizona Cardinals linebacker Isaiah Simmons takes a break between drills during NFL football training camp Friday, July 28, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz. Credit: AP/Ross D. Franklin
This someday may qualify as another victory for Joe Schoen and the Giants. It’s been quite a year for them in the acquisition department.
Schoen, the general manager, drafted two rookie cornerbacks who have won starting jobs in first-rounder Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins III. That Hawkins was a sixth-round draft pick out of Old Dominion is particularly impressive. He could be a star.
In March, the Giants traded for tight end Darren Waller. He has stayed healthy and has created impressive chemistry with Daniel Jones. His teammates like him, respect him and occasionally are wowed by him.
Schoen traded with the Cardinals to obtain safety/linebacker Isaiah Simmons on Thursday, and all he did in his opening act as a Giant on Saturday was to nearly sack Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers a few plays into the teams’ preseason finale.
Simmons offers flexibility. He can run, cover, play safety and play linebacker. He seems like a perfect fit in Wink Martindale’s positionless defense.
And he is confident. “Personally, I feel like I should be ready to go by Week One,” he said.
In meeting with Brian Daboll and Martindale, Simmons said he was given only this directive: “Run to the ball.”
He added, “And I said, ‘Well, that’s an easy rule.’ I have no issue with that. As of right now, they’re still getting me familiar with the system, learning everything, but just what Wink said, there are going to be different things that I’ll be doing. I’m just excited to dive deep into those tasks and learn all of the fine details within them so I can execute them to the highest ability.”
Adding another playmaker was exciting for Daboll, but he also is interested in knowing the person. “Really, I think you have to get to know the player first and see what he can handle, so we’re really in the introductory stages,” Daboll said on a Zoom call Sunday. “I know he’s going to give everything he has and meet with Eggs [inside linebackers coach John Egorugwu] and Wink and try to pick up all the things we need him to pick up.”
Between now and the Giants’ opener in prime time against Dallas on Sept. 10, Simmons knows he has a lot of work to do. He likely will find willing tutors among defensive players. He and Dexter Lawrence overlapped at Clemson. In Arizona, B.J. Ojulari is a rookie. Simmons now will be teammates with his brother, Azeez Ojulari.
“It was exciting,” he said of Saturday night’s game. “Just to be able to get out there in new threads, it felt really good. It felt amazing out in the new environment with Giants fans. As I’ve seen playing here, previously. It felt really good. When they came to me and said to me, ‘How do you feel about playing?’ I said, ‘Let’s go. I’m ready to go.’ I just appreciate them for giving me the opportunity.”
Simmons describes himself as someone “who is here to make plays for the team and help the defense take whatever the next step it is that we need to take. Honestly, really that’s it. Just plays to be made, and they are going to be made. I would say that’s what they should expect the most, big plays.”
Lawrence already is looking out for Simmons. Not so much with advice, Simmons said, “but just a lot of love. Saying that I’m going to love it. I’m going to love the defense here, love the staff, love all the guys. Once again, that’s another person I really trust. One of my good friends from way back when. I’m just really looking forward to just really getting going.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
