Grading each pick made by Arizona Cardinals in the 2020 NFL Draft

With the eighth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals took Isaiah Simmons. We should all be familiar with Isaiah Simmons, but if you aren’t, here’s a quick rundown. Simmons is a versatile defender from Clemson, who has produced at linebacker, strong and free safety, nickel and outside corner and even edge rusher.

There were speculations that he could have ended up falling in the draft, the fact that one of the more inventive, modern coaches, Kliff Kingsbury, is the coach of the Cardinals makes this pick perfect. Vance Joseph gets a true chess piece defender with Simmons.

Looking at the Cardinals defense, the bright spots are Chandler Jones, Byron Murphy, Patrick Peterson and Budda Baker. That means that Isaiah Simmons can immediately step into a starting role at linebacker, or he learns the entire playbook to give him the same versatility he had at Clemson.

At Clemson, he played under one of the most scheme diverse, inventive defensive coordinators in Brent Venables. Being in that type of system has done nothing but improve his ability to easily transition to an NFL offense. Playing everywhere in a defense like that also shows that he has the learning ability and mental capacity to learn the entire playbook and contribute all over the defense.

Arizona, you got a good one. Celebrate this pick for a long time.

Pick Grade: A+