A Timeline of Jeffery Simmons' All-Pro Campaign

Jeffery Simmons was just named to his third career All-Pro appearance, this time earning the spot of first-team all pro. He had an incredible season re-entering the argument for the best defensive tackle in the NFL. It was a season with adversity, excitment, and injury. Let's look at the timeline for his best career season.

Weight loss before the season.

Before the season, it came out that Simmons planned to play at a lighter weight. Turron Davenport wrote in an article for ESPN that he was clocked in at about 297 pounds, while adjusting his diet to help build muscle. Overall, he managed to drop about 20 pounds.

With this decrease in weight Simmons was able to be faster while still maintaining the incredible strength that had helped his be a monster at shedding blocks and destroying lineman in the past.

This was the first step for his monster season.

Quick start in week 1

Every NFL player wants to start off a season strong, and Big Jeff did just that. In the team's week 1 game against the Denver Broncos, he recorded his first sack of the season. Not only that, but his total stats read 4 pressures, 3 big run stops, forced two interceptions through his pass pressure, and forcing a fumble.

Confidence is big for Simmons and seeing him start the season this strong after a couple of downward years was likely big for him, the staff, and the fans.

Great first half of season

This big start in week 1 continued for the whole first half of the season. He was playing the best he had in his career and, while he wasn't getting sacks every single week, he was piling up tackles for loss, pressures, tackles, and playing like a leader. In the first 7 games of the season, he compiled 4.5 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, and 11 qb hits.

He showcased his ability to be a complete dominator in week 4 where he ripped through the offensive line before C.J. Stroud could even look up. That sack was 2.09 seconds from the snap and he got off the line in only 0.32. It was the fastest sack in 2 seasons.

He was looking like a game wrecker through the first 7 weeks and the hints of a career best season were lining up.

Injury

Unfortunately, Simmons would get injured in the team's week 8 game against former head coach Mike Vrabel and the New England Patriots. When he went off to the sideline he didn't go back to the locker room, but he looked frustrated and didn't seem like he was going back in.

It would be a hamstring injury and it would hold him out nearly an entire month. Between October 19th and November 16th he wold miss two games, plus the entirety of the Patriots game. The bye week in week 10 allowed him to get healthy for week 11 against the Texans.

This would be a minor setback for the All-Pro, but it would have been cool to see what he could've made happen with 17 games.

Came back stronger

Simmons had something to prove this season, so he made sure to come off of his injury even stronger than before.

In the 8 game stretch after injury, he would put up numbers unlike he has through his entire career. 6.5 sacks were the leader there, helping him reach his highest sack total of his career with 11. He also accumulated 9 tackles for loss, 10 qb hits, 2 forced fumbles, and even his second career receiving touchdown.

This incredible end to the Campaign helpd earn him AFC defensive player of the month for December.

Overall, Simmons showcased that he may be the best defensive tackle in the NFL this season, likely earning himself another big contract in the future. 11 sacks, 67 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 21 qb hits, a safety, and 3 forced fumbles would be his total.

He was a complete game wrecker in his first team All-Pro campaign and hopefully will replicate in and more in 2026 with a better supporting cast on defense.