The NFL Top 100 is one of the most polarizing lists of the offseason.
Some think it’s one of the most relevant rankings since the list is based on the opinions of the actual players, while others feel as if it’s a bunch of nonsense mostly based off popularity.
Regardless of how you personally feel, it’s yet another sign that the NFL season is right around the corner.
Recently signed DeAndre Hopkins was the first Titans player to make the list, but now Tennessee has its second representative in the top 100.
Jeffery Simmons was voted as the No. 58 player on this year’s NFL Top 100 list, falling four spots from where he was ranked in 2022.
To be perfectly honest, that ranking is way too low for someone like Simmons, but you can at least understand how he ended up there after a nagging ankle issue slowed him down over the second half of the season.
However, prior to the injury, Simmons was having a Defensive Player of the Year-caliber start to his season. The Mississippi State legend recorded a whopping 31 pressures and six sacks over the first seven games.
Meanwhile, from Weeks 9-18, Simmons only finished with 22 pressures and two sacks. Uncoincidentally, that’s right around the period where the Titans defender himself admitted that he was forced to shoot up his ankle before every game just to step on the field.
Despite his physical limitations, Simmons still found a way to wreak havoc in a variety of different ways, ultimately playing an integral role in having one of the best run defenses of the last decade.
Soon and very soon….. pic.twitter.com/0RNRjzB50o
— Jeffery Simmons (@GrindSimmons94) April 25, 2023
Here is what Bobby Kowknack of NFL.com had to say about Simmons’ selection:
A disrupting force on the interior of Tennessee’s defensive line, Simmons followed up a breakout 2021 with his second straight second-team All-Pro campaign. His 7.5 sacks were just one shy of his career-best and tied for seventh among all defensive tackles. A stellar run-stuffer to boot, Simmons inked the third-most lucrative contract at his position on a per-year basis in April.
Simmons may not have been at full strength in 2022, but that just makes the fact that he was tied for the fifth-most pressures (61) among defensive tackles so much more impressive.
Over the last four seasons, the All-Pro defender has become one of the very best at his position in the NFL, en route to landing a massive extension from the Titans this offseason.
