Trading for Jeffery Simmons was an obvious move for the Chicago Bears. He’s one of the best defensive players in football. The interior pass rush ability alone should be worth it. He brings something to the table this team really doesn’t have. However, that is only scratching the surface of why Simmons is such a great addition. What often gets overlooked about him, because of his obvious ability, is that he’s a prick. Not in a general sense, but in a football sense. Not only is Simmons mean by disposition, but he has certain tricks that are so sneaky and effective that the refs never catch them.
Alameda on TikTok was one of the first to spot it during his 2-sack game against the Indianapolis Colts earlier this season. Incredibly, the moment didn’t come on one of Simmons’ sacks, but that of a teammate. During the play, Simmons gets double-teamed by the right guard and right tackle. He immediately knows Jacob Martin now has a one-on-one opportunity. Simmons then does something diabolical. He reaches out and grabs the shoulder pads of the right tackle, holding him in place just long enough for Martin to get around the edge unblocked for the sack.
Jeffery Simmons does this more often than you think.
Most of the time, he does things the usual way. Either he deftly beats a blocker with power or great hand-fighting technique to blow through a gap for a sack. Other times he’ll run interference on a stunt to give an edge rusher a clear lane through the A or B gaps. However, whenever he’s double-teamed, he may deploy that tactic. Last season, he did it to the New England Patriots. During a play, the right guard and center look to combine on him. Simmons first gets a hand in the face of the center to disrupt his concentration and then, ever so subtly, grabs the front of his shoulder pads.
This leaves #54 Jihad Ward one-on-one with the left guard. He pulls a move to the inside, right where the center would’ve been able to help, and sacks Drake Maye.
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Remember the names he was doing that stuff for. Martin? Ward? While decent NFL veterans, they are not on the same tier as guys like Montez Sweat and Austin Booker. If career backups could benefit so much from Jeffery Simmons’ presence, imagine what those two can do. To say nothing of what might happen when Dayo Odeyingbo returns to join him along the interior.
The Bears knew what they were getting.
Simmons is a rare breed. He is the type of guy who can easily dominate on his own. Yet he decides to take things a step further by finding little tricks to give teammates premium opportunities. You don’t see many players do stuff like that. They don’t have the presence of mind to think about it. Reggie White did that. Ndamukong Suh did that. Vince Wilfork did that. Some guys are smart enough, selfless enough, and just dirty enough to pull such stunts. The Bears haven’t had anyone like that, probably, since Dan Hampton.
Now they do, and it will make everything so much easier. Offenses will hate playing against Simmons because they can’t afford to take plays off. He is so good at winning one-on-one battles that you have to constantly double-team him. Yet even doing that is hazardous because he’s willing to ensure you can’t disengage from said double-team. It’s a Catch-22. You hate the guy for doing stuff like that, but can’t help but respect his ability to pull it off.
