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Brian Daboll: Isaiah Simmons is athletic and explosive, we think there’s upside

Isaiah Simmons didn’t live up to expectations in Arizona after the Cardinals drafted him eighth overall in the 2020 draft, but they were far from the only team intrigued by the versatile skill set that Simmons showed while playing linebacker and defensive back at Clemson.

That ability was a driving factor behind the Giants’ decision to send a 2024 seventh-round pick to Arizona for Simmons on Thursday. Head coach Brian Daboll said that versatility is “why he was picked where he was picked” and the Giants hope defensive coordinator Wink Martindale can tap into it in a way that the Cardinals could not.

“That’s one of the reasons why we made the trade,” Daboll said, via the team’s website. “We thought there’s some upside there. Again, we’ll put him in, we’ll ask him to do probably quite a bit of things just to see what he takes to. A guy that’s, again, athletic, explosive, has good size. I’ve seen him do some multiple things. Until we get him here, I’ll give you a better answer, but certainly happy to have him.”

Daboll said the team expects Simmons to arrive in New Jersey on Friday and that will give them a little over two weeks to acclimate him to their defense before they face the Cowboys to kick off the regular season.