Isaiah Simmons looks like perfect piece for Wink Martindale's puzzle

In the ever-floating jigsaw puzzle that is the Giants' defense, one that strives to be as close as possible to a positionless scheme, Wink Martindale may have found his ideal piece in a positionless player.

“I think he fits perfectly,” the coordinator said on Wednesday of Isaiah Simmons, the linebacker – and a whole lot of other things – who the Giants acquired in a trade with the Cardinals late in training camp. “I went back the last three years and looked at his productivity and looked at things he did do really well, and I think it fits our system great. It’s not what position are you going to play him at. We are going to play him wherever you need him because he can do so many different things.”

On paper, at least, they are calling Simmons an inside linebacker. If the way they deployed him in his first appearance for them in the preseason finale against the Jets, just a day or so after he arrived, he will be sliding up and down the line of scrimmage and back and forth between pass coverage and quarterback rushing.

All of which excites Simmons nearly as much as it does Martindale.

“He’s definitely a player’s coach,” Simmons said of Martindale. “He’s not so much of a ‘This is how we’re going to do this,’ or ‘This is my way and this is it’ guy…. I definitely thought I would be a better fit within his schemes and his defense as opposed to some I’ve been in in the past just based off his history and the creativity he has.”

Simmons came into the NFL as the eighth overall pick in 2020 out of Clemson, but despite all of the versatility be brought to Arizona the Cardinals never quite figured out how to harness it. They moved him between linebacker and safety, putting him in boxes when he needed to be more free-flowing. It didn’t work.

The freedom he’ll have with the Giants requires a crash course in the defense, though, and Simmons has been trying to catch up with the rest of the defensive players who had a head start of months going back to April.

“I’ve definitely been drinking out of a fire hydrant,” he said, “but it’s all been good. Our staff has done a really good job of helping me get caught up with all the guys at a very fast pace.”

Simmons won’t yet be a fully integrated part of the defense on Sunday when the Giants open against the Cowboys.

“He’s been working his roles,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “The stuff we’ll ask him to do we feel confident in him.”

But make no mistake, that stuff they’ll ask will be a lot.

Simmons found that out in the preseason game. He was shocked when they told him he would be playing, but when they sensed his surprise and asked him if he was OK with it he jumped right in.

“I was like ‘Yeah, that’s ok! Let’s go! I’m ready!’ he said. “I was thankful for that. I’m glad they did that. It felt good to get out there in my new home.”

Simmons has shown that “Let’s go! I’m ready!” attitude since his arrival. He’s been game for whatever the Giants have asked. He even expects to pop up on special teams for the Giants early in the season.

“I have no issue with it,” he said. “In college, everyone had to play special teams at Clemson unless you are like Trevor [Lawrence] or Tee Higgins. I have no issue with special teams. If that’s what’s going to help us get to our end goal, that’s what I’m willing to do… Typically on special teams the guy is either small and athletic or bigger and not so athletic. I think I’m a big, athletic guy.”

“He’s very talented, very, very talented,” special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said. “He’s come in and he’s assimilated pretty fast. Smart. Can do a lot of different things.”

Mostly, though, he is here to play defense.

That’s what Martindale envisioned from him when he first started learning about Simmons in the 2020 draft process.

“I loved him coming out of the draft and I spoke to [Clemson head coach] Dabo [Swinney] back then,” Martindale said.

Simmons remembers meeting Martindale, then the defensive coordinator for the Ravens. He recalled that they hit it off and that he thought he would enjoy playing for him. But he also knew the Ravens had the 28th overall pick that year.

“I just knew I wasn’t going to go that low,” he said.

Martindale has used players in similar fashions before. Last year he did it with veterans Landon Collins and Tony Jefferson. They created some confusion in the role but it was clear their most flamboyant athletic days were behind them at that point in their careers. Simmons, at age 25, should be entering his prime.

And now their paths have brought them here, to the Giants, the puzzlemaster and his positionless pawn finally together.

“We’ve had success with really good football players, and I think he’s a really good football player,” Martindale said. “I just believe in him, as I believe in all the guys that are playing, and I think he’s going to be fun to watch.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.