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NFL Draft 2019: Top 32 prospects – Post-Senior Bowl edition

By Conor Dorney

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - NOVEMBER 17: Rashan Gary #3 of the Michigan Wolverines looks on while playing the Indiana Hoosiers at Michigan Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 31-20. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - NOVEMBER 17: Rashan Gary #3 of the Michigan Wolverines looks on while playing the Indiana Hoosiers at Michigan Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan won the game 31-20. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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STARKVILLE, MS – SEPTEMBER 01: Jeffery Simmons #94 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs reacts during a game against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks at Davis Wade Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
STARKVILLE, MS – SEPTEMBER 01: Jeffery Simmons #94 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs reacts during a game against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks at Davis Wade Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

If you’re looking for the draft’s most polarizing prospect, look no further than Mississippi State’s Jeffery Simmons.

For those unfamiliar, Simmons was involved a highly-publicized altercation in 2016 where he was shown on video punching a woman while she laid on the ground. Miraculously, the program gave what amounted to less than a slap on the wrist with a one-game suspension, but now Simmons must answer for the incident throughout the pre-draft process.

With how swiftly the Kareem Hunt situation played out at the end of last season, there will no doubt be teams that leave Simmons off their board entirely because of this off-field incident. Whichever team ultimately decides to pull the trigger on Simmons will do so expecting, rightfully so, to encounter significant backlash.

On the field, Simmons has some of the highest upside of any player in the class and has exactly the kind of length and explosive playmaking ability that could make him an outstanding player at the next level. He can win with power or speed and with further development, could turn into a disruptive force that will be difficult for opposing offenses to deal with.

Again, a team will ultimately have to decide whether Simmons’ 2016 incident is truly in the past but, it probably won’t affect his status as a first-round pick.

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