Raiders: 3 NFL Combine winners to target in the 2020 NFL Draft
By Justin Fried
2. Isaiah Simmons, LB, Clemson
Perhaps no player made himself more money at this year’s NFL Combine than Isaiah Simmons.
The Clemson linebacker/safety/cornerback/edge rusher absolutely dominated at the Combine and made his case to be a top-5 pick come the 2020 NFL Draft. To put things in perspective, here’s a comparison of his athletic feats to other NFL players.
Side note, normally I hate these hypothetical comparisons but this one is so ridiculous it just has to be shared.
That’s right, Simmons ran a 4.39 speed which was 0.04 seconds faster than Devin Hester of all people! At 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds, that’s not normal. It’s not even abnormal.
It’s unheard of.
On top of his insane athleticism, Simmons has the tape to back it up and the versatility to play conceivably anywhere on defense as Clemson showed this past season.
It seems almost guaranteed that he’ll be a top-10 pick at this point, but if he were to somehow fall to pick No. 12, the Raiders would be foolish to let him slide any further. You could even make the case for the Raiders to trade up and snag him before they are slotted to pick.
He’s just that talented.
Simmons would immediately be the best linebacker the Raiders have had in years and if they could somehow find a way to land him, it would hands-down be their best pick of the draft.
Perhaps it’s a pipedream, but the thought of Simmons in silver and black next season should be enough to make any Raiders fan salivate.