Isaiah Simmons named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Simmons is the first Giants player to win a player of the week award since Gunner Olszewski and Jamie Gillan were honored for their work on special teams in Weeks 17-18 of the 2023 season.

Olszewski returned a punt 94 yards for a touchdown against the Rams – the Giants’ previous special teams touchdown before Ford-Wheaton’s – and Gillan averaged 46.5 gross yards and 44.0 net yards on five punts in a season-ending victory against Philadelphia. Four of Gillan’s punts were downed or fair caught inside the 20-yard line, including one at the nine.

This is the Giants’ 35^th Special Teams Player of the Week award since weekly citations were instituted in 1984.

Simmons was the eighth selection in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, by the Arizona Cardinals. Athletically gifted, he started all 17 games at middle linebacker in 2021, but also played safety the following year. Simmons was traded to the Giants near the end of training camp in 2023, but has never settled into one position, playing both linebacker and in the secondary. In five games this season, Simmons’ 120 snaps have been equally divided between defense and special teams (where he played exclusively vs. the Seahawks). He has seven tackles (six solo) on defense and one assisted stop on special teams.

But he also made one of the Giants’ biggest plays of the season, for which coach Brian Daboll presented him with a game ball in the postgame locker room.

“He’s a high first round pick,” Daboll said. “He’s been on a couple different teams. There are certain roles that he plays, and not everybody is a starter for you. The people that play behind them or the roles, specific roles we have, they have to execute their job at a high level, whatever that role is. That’s what good teammates do. Certainly, everybody wants the ball on offense or to play 100% of the time. This is a team game, and you can only put 11 out there. When your number is called, we’re expecting you to make the play. I’m proud of the young man for that. He made one hell of a play at the end of the game to seal it.”

Simmons had never played on the field goal block team at Clemson or in the NFL, and he practiced his blocking maneuver just once last Friday in practice. But Giants special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial saw an opportunity to get a block when he studied the Seahawks, and he and Daboll thought Simmons was ideal for the role.

The Seahawks had cut their deficit from 10 to three when Myers attempted to tie the score with his third field goal of the game. But at the snap, Simmons leaped through the opening between long-snapper Chris Stoll and right guard Laken Tomlinson. The ball hit Simmons’ left arm and sailed directly to Ford-Wheaton on one bounce.

“I knew I was going to be able to get up high enough,” Simmons said. “My biggest thing was being able to double-bounce. So, land and go right back up. There’s no time for anything else. Once I felt myself clear, the only thing in my mind is touch and go, touch and go, touch and go. I guess my long jump skills came into play there.

“Obviously, it was a very big play to end the game. It caused us to win the game. Keep it real. Just how my season has gone so far hasn’t been at all what I wanted. Just being able to come in there and make that play for the guys. They can believe in me or not. That was more so what I wanted to do. Just show them I’m capable of making those game-changing plays regardless of if it’s at the very end or if it’s in the first quarter. Personally, I believe that I’m the type of player that can help the team make plays like that often.”

After coming through in the clutch against Seattle, perhaps he’ll get more chances to make them.