With the report that John Simon is coming back to New England it got me thinking- is Simon the next misused edge player teams gave up on, only to become a reliable player in New England?
The obvious comparisons are to Mike Vrabel and Rob Ninkovich. I did some digging at this is what I came up with:
Mike Vrabel:
Vrabel started his career in Pittsburgh, where he was a third round draft pick out of Ohio State. In his four years in Pittsburgh, he had 36 tackles and 7 sacks.
He arrived in Foxboro in 2001, and in his 8 years here he had 604 tackles and 48 sacks. In his first year, for comparison sake, he had 63 tackles and 3 sacks in 16 games with a full offseason to ingratiate into the system.
Rob Ninkovich:
Ninkovich was drafted by the Saints in 2006, had a brief stint in Miami before returning to New Orleans, until he eventually landed in New England in his 4th year in the league. In his first 3 seasons he had 6 tackles in 8 games. That is not a joke.
He was signed by New England in 2009, and in 8 years put up 469 tackles and 46 sacks. In his first season here he had 23 tackles and one sack. His numbers weren’t as good as Vrabels, sure, but the defense changed both scheme wise and personnel wise. Either way, both were exceptional edge players that played the run and could rush the passer if asked. When Ninkovich retired in 2017, the Patriots run defense was exposed all season and was humiliated in the Super Bowl loss to the Eagles.
Their run defense at the beginning of 2018 was the equivalent of dog puke. Teams were gashing them up the middle and on the edge. In week 5 a guy named John Simon was signed to the team.
John Simon:
Drafted in 2013, Simon played for Baltimore, Houston, and Indianapolis, totaling 158 tackles and 13 sacks. In 11 games in New England he totaled 17 tackles and two sacks. Not gaudy numbers by any means, but not far off from what we saw from Ninkovich in his first year here in 5 less games. He played 60% of the snaps in the AFC championship game and helped shut down the rushing attack of the Rams in the Super Bowl.
We only have a small sample of what Simon can do, but early returns look positive. If he can become that dependable edge player that has always been crucial to the Belichick defense, he will be an important part of the defense going forward.
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