Wink Martindale only got Isaiah Simmons into the building two weeks ago, and the Giants’ defensive coordinator is already excited about his potential in this system.
“It’s been great. I think he fits perfectly,” Martindale said prior to Sunday’s season opener against the Dallas Cowboys. “It’s going to take a while for all of us to gel, not just Isaiah, because we just haven’t had that many [game] reps together yet. [But] I think he’s perfect for this defense.”
Simmons, 25, blitzed from the linebacker spot in his limited preseason action against the Jets. That will likely be his primary role in sub packages, at least to start the season, to complement starting linebackers Bobby Okereke and Micah McFadden.
Simmons has immediately stepped in as a core special teamer with coordinator Thomas McGaughey, too, though. So the Giants are finding ways to get the former Arizona Cardinals top-10 pick on the field after acquiring him for a seventh-round pick in late August.
“Athleticism, speed – he’s very talented,” McGaughey said of Simmons. “Very, very talented. He’s come in and he’s assimilated pretty fast. Smart. Can do a lot of different things, versatility, position flex with him. So I look forward to seeing him grow in our system.”
Martindale said he “loved” Simmons coming out of Clemson in the 2020 NFL Draft and had spoken to Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney back then about him. But he also got a lot out of studying the impact Simmons was able to make in Arizona.
Although he didn’t live up to expectations in the desert, for example, he did return an interception for a touchdown and have four sacks last season.
“I went back the last three years and looked at his productivity and looked at things he did do really well, and I think it fits our system great,” Martindale said. “It’s not, ‘What position are you going to play him at?’ We are going to play him wherever [we] need him, because he can do so many different things. I’ve talked before about a positionless defense. He fits perfect to that.”
STARTING FAST PAYS OFF
The 57 Super Bowl winners in NFL history have a 46-10-1 record in their season opener. Since 2002, when the league expanded to 32 teams, Week 1 winners (52.6%) are more than twice as likely to reach the playoffs than Week 1 losers (24.6%). The 14 playoff teams had a combined 10-4 record on the opening weekend last season.
In the 11 last seasons, the Giants have only made the playoffs when they’ve won in Week 1. They entered Sunday with a 2-9 record in Week 1 games since their last Super Bowl championship. They reached the postseason in 2016 and 2022, when they won their openers at Dallas and at Tennessee, respectively. They missed the playoffs in the other nine seasons.
Daboll’s team is trying to become the first Giants club to make the postseason in consecutive seasons since 2007-08. Tom Coughlin’s Giants made the playoffs in four straight years from 2005-08. But the team hasn’t made the playoffs in back-to-back years since.
WALLER ACTIVE
Tight end Darren Waller (hamstring) was active on Sunday night despite being listed as questionable on Friday. The Giants’ inactives were WR Wan’Dale Robinson, CB Cor’Dale Flott, S Gervarrius Owens, ILB Cam Brown, G Shane Lemieux and DT D.J. Davidson. Only Lemieux was a healthy scratch. The Cowboys’ inactives were CB Jourdan Lewis, S Donovan Wilson, QB Trey Lance, CB Eric Scott, T Tyler Smith, WR Jalen Brooks and DE Viliami Fehoko.
JONES ELEVATED OFF P-SQUAD
Running back Taiwan Jones, a street free agent who signed with the Giants on Aug. 31, was elevated off the practice squad for Sunday’s season opener against the Cowboys to help on special teams.
Pat Leonard
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