Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons has been one of the top players at his position since 2019. Broncos Country is very familiar with his talent, but NFL fans tend to gloss over him, as evidenced by his single, solitary Pro Bowl selection.
Simmons is underrated and underappreciated when it comes to garnering individual NFL accolades, and NFL.com’s Cynthia Frelund seems to agree, ranking him eighth on her list of top-10 most underrated NFL players.
“Simmons had a career year in 2019 and received the franchise tag a couple times before finally getting a long-term deal last year, but I feel like we don’t see a ton of lists that show he’s continuing to perform at an elite level . Well, he has indeed ranked among the top five safeties in win share in each of the past three seasons and third overall at the position in that time period. Simmons has recorded at least 20 defensive stops in each of the past three seasons, per PFF. That is a solid number of stops for a safety to amass. The main reason he’s on this list, though, is that computer vision shows he’s been the second-best safety in coverage over the past three seasons.”
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Frelund created a ‘win shares’ metric inspired by wins above replacement in baseball and real plus-minus in basketball. Her metric ranks NFL players based on their impact on first downs and touchdowns that lead to wins and losses.
Simmons is measured in his ability to make defensive stops in those situations. Ranking third overall in the past five years for safeties in this metric is a testament to his impact on the field.
Simmons’ 19 interceptions and 45 passes defended over that time are more than Tyrann Mathieu’s 17 picks and 42 pass breakups. Mathieu gets significantly more recognition than Simmons, though, collecting three Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. Being ranked second in coverage over the last three years is also an outstanding achievement on Simmons’ resume.
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The most significant factor in Simmons not getting the recognition he deserves is that he hasn’t been on a winning team. The former Boston College star has not played on a Broncos squad that has finished above .500 since his rookie season (9-7).
Since Simmons has broken out as a top safety, he’s failed even to sniff the playoffs, and the lack of team success means a player like him doesn’t get many chances to be in the spotlight. This season, Simmons and the Broncos will be playing in five primetime games, allowing him to open the eyes of the rest of the NFL to his All-Pro ability.
Look alive, because Simmons is about to be a household name.
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