NFL.com Mock Draft: Offensive Line, Again

In a new mock draft at NFL.com, Eric Edholm selected Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons, who was having a dominant season until he suffered a torn ACL.

Ohio State Buckeyes offensive lineman Josh Simmons (71) blocks Missouri Tigers defensive lineman Darius Robinson. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have a good left tackle. What if they had a great one?

In a new mock draft for NFL.com, Eric Edholm selected Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons.

“I don't think Green Bay would hesitate to go offensive line in Round 1 for a second straight year, even if the cornerback need feels glaring,” Edholm wrote. “Simmons would be a good fit for what the Packers seek in blockers.”

In his second season at Ohio State and second season at left tackle, Simmons dominated the first half of the season. In six games, according to Pro Football Focus, he allowed just one pressure.

However, in that sixth game against Oregon, he suffered a torn ACL and missed the rest of the season.

His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said he’d be ready for training camp.

Simmons played right tackle at San Diego State in 2022, then transferred to Ohio State and moved to left tackle. He allowed one sack and 15 pressures in 2023 but really settled in during his final season.

“You think it’s kind of like, ‘Just flip your mindset,’ but there’s a whole lot else that goes into it. I think toward the back end (of the season), I started to figure it out,” he told The Columbus Dispatch.

The pressure with being a first-round pick will be immense, but he’s used to it. He felt the heat from the fans as he struggled a bit in 2023.

“This is Ohio State,” Simmons said before this season. “A lot of people (consider) this the best program in the country. I knew I was going to get that. It was up to me. I took it like, 'Josh, you've got to lock in and figure it out.’”

He did just that. In 2022, he was guilty of an astounding 17 penalties. He cut that to eight in 2023 and then just one in 2024.

Simmons became hardened by the better competition he faced every week at Ohio State.

“Physically, obviously, you got to be ready, but I think mentally, that’s where you’ve got to start tightening up a little bit because then you start playing in those Notre Dame games, those Penn State games, and then you realize a penalty like that can literally destroy the whole game,” Simmons said. “And once you kind of look at that lens, you know those are no-noes. It can’t happen.”

The injury will prevent Simmons from going through predraft testing. The film will show the athleticism, though.

“He's a freak athlete,” Buckeyes center Seth McLaughlin, an Alabama transfer, told The Columbus Dispatch before the 2024 season. “He's a tremendous athlete, one of the best athletes on the offensive line I've seen throughout my career.”

Drafting Simmons – a “gifted left tackle prospect,” in the words of NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah –  would potentially open the door to this offensive line: Simmons at left tackle, Elgton Jenkins at left guard, Zach Tom at center, Jordan Morgan at right guard and Rasheed Walker at right tackle.

“Simmons … has excellent size, movement skills and balance,” Jeremiah said as part of a more extensive scouting report. “In the passing game, he has a smooth/fluid set. … In the run game, he plays under control, stays on his feet and maintains leverage/position. …

“The main question with Simmons is health. What he put on tape this fall should generate plenty of optimism about his chances of becoming a quality starting left tackle in the NFL.” 

Speaking of Edholm pointing to the Packers’ “glaring” need at cornerback, only one cornerback was off the board at No. 23. The Kansas City Chiefs selected Florida State corner Azareye'h Thomas at the end of the first round.

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