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Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State (Senior)

Picture of Rayane M

Rayane M

The 2025 NFL Draft is fast approaching, and despite an initial impression that this year's class might lack talent, The Trick Play team has once again delved into the tapes to bring you scouting reports on the players who will soon wear the jerseys of your favorite franchises.

From Quarterback to Safety, including the trenches where Offensive Linemen and Defensive Linemen engage in a relentless battle, Rayane and Valentin will walk you through the new faces of this 2025 draft class while everyone is excited about the coming NFL Draft


Strengths :

  • Age
  • Athleticism
  • Complete blocker
  • Hips placement
  • Leverage
  • Potential
 

Weaknesses :

  • Balance
  • Arm placement
  • Ground anchoring
  • Injuries

TTProfil

 
While most people talking about the draft today only mention names like Armand Membou, Will Campbell, or Kelvin Banks when discussing offensive linemen likely to be selected in the top 15, Josh Simmons is actually a player who could very well have been picked ahead of those guys if he hadn’t suffered a nasty knee injury during his regular-season game against Oregon. While this report won’t be able to answer your questions about Josh’s rehab, it will at least give you an idea of the player Josh Simmons could become again once his recovery is complete.
 
First of all, Josh Simmons has an initial advantage: he’s a relatively young prospect. At 22 years old with a birthday in December, he’ll turn 23 at the end of the regular season—giving him time to ease back from injury and continue developing. While he’s not a 20-year-old turning 21, the fact that he’ll still be just 23 during the latter part of his rookie season is a positive. We’re not talking about a prospect who will be 24 or 25 by the end of his rookie year.
His age is therefore a point to be emphasized, as usual when evaluating players.
 
His young age isn't the only interesting thing about Josh, however, as you can see quite clearly from the taps that he's notably quite agile and very explosive.
Whether it's at the snap out of his stance or during the play, Josh regularly shows impressive flashes of explosiveness. His get-offs are often very sharp, and he consistently demonstrates the ability to reach the second level of the defense quickly thanks to solid speed.
That speed also shows up when he's in Screen Pass situations, where Josh can truly be a threat. I believe that without that nasty injury, Josh would have likely made a strong impression during the pre-draft process thanks to his impressive athletic abilities — but unfortunately, we won’t get any answers to that question.
 
If Simmons is a blocker I would describe as quite good — whether in run or pass situations, his performance floor remains consistently solid — I could even go as far as calling him excellent in certain run-blocking scenarios, thanks to his explosiveness and good mobility, but also due to his effective hip rotation that allows him to create great rushing lanes. Josh often flashes on zone plays, where he sometimes manages to open up real highways for ball carriers.
On the pass-blocking side, while Josh generally performs well here too, I found him to be slightly less dominant — mainly due to a few minor technical issues that I’ll come back to in a few lines. 
 
As for his leverage, while Josh does a good job of playing with a low pad level — which is already a strong point given his frame that perfectly fits the Tackle position — the most impressive aspect is his consistently wide base. If Josh manages to fix his minor balance issues, as we’ll see later, that wide base could become a real asset in his game across all situations.
 
Finally, we have to briefly touch on Josh's potential, which I believe is far from being fully reached. As I mentioned earlier, his floor before the injury was already quite high, but even so, Josh consistently flashed impressive plays in various game situations. While there are still a few areas he needs to work on, the issues in his game are neither the hardest to identify nor the most difficult to fix.
With Josh, it's possible to have a player with a very high ceiling if he comes back well from his injury.
 
As we've seen, Josh has some great qualities, but despite his floor and some nice flashes here and there, Josh also has a few things to work on.
 
To begin with, there’s the question of his overall balance, which in my opinion can really be lacking. When watching him, Josh rarely looks stable, and I’ve seen him get moved off his spot multiple times because of this exact issue. It’s especially noticeable on pass protection reps, but it can also happen in run-blocking situations when Simmons leans too far forward trying to generate a big impact on his opponent. When he does that, he becomes very vulnerable to a push-pull move from the opposing defensive lineman.
 
Josh will also need to put in serious work on how he positions his arms during plays. While his hand placement is generally solid most of the time, Simmons very rarely plays with his elbows tucked in.
The fact that his elbows are often (almost always, in reality) wide open gives the impression that he's committing holding penalties on every play. While that's not the case at all, it's the impression he creates, and as a result, when he does make an actual mistake, it's immediately noticeable and easily identifiable.
Moreover, even without considering the risk of penalties, Josh still exposes himself to potential trouble against the top-level pass rushers. By playing with his elbows wide, his arms end up positioned too high, and without realizing it, he opens a window of opportunity for rushers who are skilled enough to exploit this gap with techniques targeting his hips.
It's a point that could play tricks on him at the next level if it isn't sorted out quickly.
 
While Simmons doesn’t seem to lack the necessary power to make an impact in the NFL, I do have some concerns about his anchor ability, which might still be a bit lacking for the big league. This is, after all, one of the most frequently used techniques by NFL players in pass protection, across all offensive schemes. Therefore, I have some doubts, as this is clearly not one of Simmons' strong points.
If it's not a physical issue, then it becomes a question of technique. The real concern is whether he will be able to refine this technique quickly enough to eliminate mistakes and at least become solid in this area. Especially considering that the lingering concerns from his serious injury could, in the worst-case scenario, cloud his thoughts and prevent him from fully committing his weight to his legs for fear of re-injury.
 
Finally, and this seems logical but one of the big red flags for Simmons if not the biggest red flag for him is this injury, which will really have to be factored into his evaluation.
As we all know, an injury can completely change the trajectory of a player's career, no matter how talented he or she is, and as French soccer watchers, we have no idea what kind of shape Josh will be in when he returns. So it's obviously a point worth taking into consideration.
 
 
 

So what do we have with Josh Simmons?
A highly athletic Offensive Tackle, with a size that fits the NFL mold, fairly clean technically, and capable of fitting into most modern offensive systems. He's well-rounded, being solid in pass protection and good, even very good, in the run game. At just 22 years old, soon to turn 23, he still has room to develop. So, on paper, it's clearly all good, but now what about the injury that cost him his final season?

As we all know, the Senior season for university players is often extremely important in terms of player development, and it's often the season of achievement for these young players.
It's a season where physical abilities are often more important, where the level of technical skill is at its peak, and where football IQ ties everything together to showcase the progression from years of college football training. Unfortunately for Simmons, he tore his knee on a seemingly harmless play during the 6th or 7th game of the Buckeyes' season this year, and this injury marked the end of his season.
As a result, we were deprived of seeing his progress this season, as well as his performances in crucial end-of-year games that could have drastically impacted his draft stock. Instead, we must judge based on what we've seen while also considering his future return from injury.
While knee injuries are generally well-treated today, every player (and person) is different, and there's no guarantee that we’ll see the same Josh Simmons again. This is an important point not to overlook, and the draft process will be crucial for Josh if he's able to perform some drills and prove that he's on the right track.

In any case, from what I've seen of it, it's very difficult to see it slip any lower than the end of the 3rd lap, and that's being extremely pessimistic.
If I were a GM myself, it’s highly likely that I’d start looking at his name as early as the second round if he's still available. That's the value I place on him today. However, without his injury and with a full season, there’s a strong chance that Josh would have gone in the first round, not the second half of it.
So we're back to what I was saying, if during the draft process Simmons is able to show that he's back on top, don't be surprised to see a franchise take the gamble soon enough.
For me he is currently a Tier 2 and I see him as a Day 2 value.
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