A year after breaking into the NFL Top 100 player rankings for the first time, Justin Simmons is back.
In the annual ranking of the league's top 100 players, as voted on by the players, Simmons is slotted at No. 81 ahead of the 2022 season.
The honor comes after a 2021 season in which Simmons started all 17 games and recorded 80 tackles, 1.5 sacks, five interceptions and 12 passes defensed, which helped him earn second-team All-Pro honors from the Associated Press' group of voters. His five interceptions tied his career high, as he was one of just five safeties to reach that mark in 2021.
Simmons' consistent production has been perhaps his most remarkable trait; he is one of just two safeties to record at least three interceptions in each of the previous four seasons.
While this ranking is lower than his previous (No. 45), Simmons' stock could soon be rising once again. In a poll of league executives, coaches, scouts and players, ESPN found that Simmons was ranked as the league's top safety.
