The Measurements
Simmons was a projected top-15 pick out of Mississippi State, but he never tested at the combine. He wasn't invited, and in February 2019 he tore the ACL in his left knee during position drills while training for the draft. The numbers on record come from his pro day: 6-foot-3¾, 305 pounds, 34½-inch arms, a 10¼-inch hand and a wingspan just under 6-foot-11, plus 28 reps of 225 pounds on the bench.
Tennessee drafted him 19th overall anyway, knowing he would miss a large chunk of his rookie year. He made his NFL debut on October 20, 2019, eight months after the injury, and has since become one of the best interior defenders in football: four Pro Bowls, second-team All-Pro in 2021 and 2022, and first-team All-Pro in 2025.
Why arm length matters on the interior
For a defensive tackle, the first contact decides the rep. The player who lands his hands first gets to control the other man's chest, and arm length is a direct head start. A 34½-inch arm is long for a 305-pound tackle. It lets Simmons strike an offensive guard and lock him out before the guard can grab him, then shed when the ball carrier or quarterback commits.
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Two first-round picks is a quarterback or edge-rusher price, not a typical defensive tackle price. Simmons' numbers explain it. Before the trade, he led all defensive tackles with 28 pressures this season, per Next Gen Stats. He was also tied for second at the position with 21 run stops, so he wasn't trading run defense for pass rush.
| Stat | Jeffery Simmons |
|---|---|
| Pressures, 2026 | 28 (most among DTs) |
| Pressures vs double teams | 10 (best among DTs) |
| Sacks vs double teams | 3 (best among DTs) |
| Run stops, 2026 | 21 (tied 2nd among DTs) |
| Sacks since start of 2025 | 15.0 (11.0 in 2025, 4.0 in 2026) |
| Career with Titans | 106 games, 46.5 sacks, 72 TFL, 96 QB hits |
The double-team numbers are the ones that stand out. Offenses routinely slide two blockers onto an elite interior rusher, which usually shuts his production down and frees up someone else. Simmons is still producing pressure and sacks through that extra attention, which means he makes the rest of a defensive line better just by lining up.
What Strength Looks Like Without a 40 Time
It's tempting to see a missing combine as a blank profile. For an interior lineman, it isn't. A defensive tackle almost never runs 40 yards in a straight line; his work happens in the first two or three steps after the snap. The traits that matter most there are length, hand strength, lower-body power and leverage, and Simmons' pro day numbers and seven seasons of tape both point the same way.
The ACL recovery is part of the story too. Coming back from a February knee reconstruction to play by October of his rookie year, and then building a first-team All-Pro résumé on that knee, says a lot about the strength base underneath the measurements.
First Up: Monday Night in Seattle
Simmons joins a 5-2 Bears team chasing a second straight NFC North title. His first two games in Chicago are in prime time: Monday night at Seattle, then Sunday night against Tampa Bay. At his introductory press conference, Simmons said he was still learning the playbook and wasn't sure how much he'd play Monday. He also said the trade "told me everything I needed to know, especially the value from giving away two first-round picks."
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