Justin Simmons (American football)
| No. 31 Denver Broncos | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Safety | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Date of birth: | November 19, 1993 | ||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Manassas, Virginia | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 202 lb (92 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Stuart (FL) Martin County | ||||||||||
| College: | Boston College | ||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2016 / Round: 3 / Pick: 98 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 13, 2016 | |||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||
Justin Simmons (born November 19, 1993) is an American football safety for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Boston College.
High school career
Simmons attended Martin County High School in Stuart, Florida. While there, he played both football and basketball. As a sophomore, he was named All-Area honorable mention as a sophomore. As a junior, he recorded 70 tackles and seven interceptions on defense. On offense he recorded 15 receptions for 390 yards and six touchdowns. For his effort, he was named First team All-Area. As a senior, he recorded 80 tackles and four interceptions. On offense, he recorded 25 receptions for 496 yards and five touchdowns as well as rushing the ball 36 times for 275 yards and two touchdowns on offense. He was named Martin County's Team Most Valuable Player (MVP) as well as the teams Offensive Player of the Year. He was also named Second team All-State and named the 2011 Impact Player of the Year by Next Level Sports Scouting. For his football career at Martin County, he recorded 24 career interceptions, returning two for touchdowns. He was also named All-Area Defensive Player of the Year honors from Treasure Coast Newspapers.
While at Martin County, he also played for the Tigers basketball team. As a junior, he helped the Tigers basketball team to district championships in 2010-2011. As a senior, he averaged 15.2 points and 11.5 rebounds per game as well as 47 blocks. He was named to the Treasure Coast All-Star Team and helped he Tigers to the regional finals.
Simmons was an honor roll while at Martin County. He was also active as a Safe School Ambassador, Best Buddies mentor, high school ministry and Pop Warner football coach.
College career
Simmons then attended Boston College where he enrolled as a communication major in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. While at Boston College, he played both safety and cornerback.[1]
In 2012, as a freshman he appeared in all 12 of the Eagles games. He started six games at free safety and one at cornerback. He finished seventh on the team with 52 tackles, he was tied for the team lead with two forced fumbles. In 2013, as a sophomore, he appeared in all 13 games, he recorded 34 tackles, 22 solo tackles, and three pass break-ups. In 2014, as a junior, he started all 13 games, the first seven at free safety and the final six at right cornerback, moving due to injuries on the team. For the season, he led the team with 76 tackles, 63 solo and two interceptions. He finished second on the team with five pass breakups. Before the 2015 season, he was awarded the Jay McGillis Memorial Scholarship Award.[2] For the season, as senior, he started all 12 games at free safety. He finished the season third on the team with 67 tackles, 49 solo. He was tied for 20th in the nation and second in the conference with five interceptions and tied for first in the conference with three fumble recoveries. He was named Second Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association and ACC head coaches. He was also named Second Team All-ACC by Phil Steele and the Associated Press. He was named to Steele's All-American Fourth Team and ProFootballFocus.com All-America honorable mention.
Professional career
In February 2016 at the NFL Scouting Combine, he recorded the best 20-yard shuttle since 2006 (3.81) with a time of 3.85 seconds.[3] He also tied Braxton Miller with the best 60-yard shuttle since 2014 (10.72) with a time of 10.84 seconds.[3] At the event, he finished in the top five in his position group in five of seven field events. He was also the overall winner in two, the 20-yard shuttle and the 60-yard shuttle and was second overall in the three-cone drill.[3] He was rated the fourth best free safety in the 2016 NFL Draft by NFLDraftScout.com.[4] In March, before the NFL draft, Simmons worked out for the Dallas Cowboys.[5]
| Ht | Wt | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 2 in | 202 lb | 32 5⁄8 in | 9 5⁄8 in | 4.61 s | 1.60 s | 2.67 s | 3.85 s | 6.58 s | 40 in | 10 ft 6 in | 16 reps | ||||||||
| All values are from NFL Combine.[6][4] | |||||||||||||||||||
Simmons was selected in the third round (98th overall) of the 2016 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. On May 13, he signed his rookie contract.[7] The contract was for four-years and projected to be worth $2.99 millions dollars with a $645,000 signing bonus.[8]
On November 13, 2016 as the New Orleans Saints attempted to defeat the Broncos with an extra point, Simmons blocked it, after which teammate Will Parks grabbed it in mid-air and returned it for a safety, winning the game for the Broncos 25-23.[9]
References
- ↑ After position switch, BC safety Justin Simmons was sharp at corner
- ↑ Vega, Michael (September 13, 2015). "Justin Simmons receives McGillis Scholarship Award". Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- 1 2 3 Benbow, Julian (March 18, 2016). "How BC's Justin Simmons became a hot NFL prospect". Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- 1 2 "Justin Simmons - Boston College, FS : 2016 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". NFLDraftScout.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- ↑ "Cowboys reportedly work out safety Justin Simmons, who had five INTs in his senior season". March 31, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- ↑ "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Justin Simmons". NFL.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- ↑ Mason, Andrew (May 13, 2016). "Broncos sign draft picks Devontae Booker and Justin Simmons". DenverBroncos.om. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- ↑ Jhabvala, Nicki (May 13, 2016). "Devontae Booker, Justin Simmons sign rookie contracts with Broncos". DenverPost.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- ↑ Wolfe, Cameron (November 11, 2016). "How Broncos rookie safeties Will Parks, Justin Simmons converged on game-winning PAT block and score". Denver Post. Retrieved November 14, 2016.