Seahawks should hold off on drafting Jeffery Simmons

The Seahawks need defensive line help and one day Jeffery Simmons could help. But Seattle needs help in 2019 and not 2020.

The Seahawks are thinking of trading Frank Clark. Seattle desperately needs defensive line depth and a greater quantity of productivity from its line. Clark is great but could bring in multiple draft picks and those picks might translate into young edge rushers and defensive tackles who could help Seattle win for years to come. But one of them shouldn’t be Mississippi State’s Jeffery Simmons.

Simmons is a big guy with a ton of potential. Think Michael Bennett-size but 20 pounds heavier with the same kind of quickness. He can help against the run, and like Jarran Reed he can supply interior pressure. But he might not be ready to contribute in 2019. Simmons tore his ACL during a pre-NFL Draft workout and most likely will miss the 2019 season.

For Seattle to be really good in 2019, they need players who can help them this year and not next. Simmons might become a great player but he isn’t clearly the best defensive tackle in this year’s draft. There would be another player of Simmons’ quality in next year’s draft. Currently, Seattle has Reed and Clark for this coming season. They will use Jacob Martin at the opposing end to Clark and other players. Seattle will have some veteran help to go along with Reed.

Seattle could still trade Clark and pick up some pretty nifty draft pieces. If Clark is traded, Seattle needs to use the higher of whatever picks they get on a player to take Clark’s place and that player needs to be able to play in 2019. Simmons would not.

I also don’t want to compare Simmons to Malik McDowell from the Seahawks 2017 draft. McDowell had question marks, too. Most of the issues about McDowell were his maturity and motor. McDowell made Seattle pay dearly for taking him by getting involved in an ATV accident which has completely derailed his career so far and he may never play. He definitely won’t play in Seattle as he was released.

Simmons doesn’t seem to be immature. True, he does have a murky domestic violence issue from 2016 when a video appeared of him striking a female. That alone could keep him from being drafted by the Seahawks. And maybe it should. But the reason Simmons shouldn’t go to Seattle is that he simply can’t be productive soon enough. Seattle needs more right away. Simmons can’t deliver that.