John Simpson (American football) explained

John Simpson
Current Team:New York Jets
Number:76
Position:Offensive guard
Birth Date:19 August 1997
Birth Place:Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.
Height Ft:6
Height In:4
Weight Lb:330
High School:Fort Dorchester
(North Charleston, South Carolina)
College:Clemson (2016–2019)
Draftyear:2020
Draftround:4
Draftpick:109
Pastteams:
Status:Active
Highlights:
Statleague:NFL
Statseason:2023
Statlabel1:Games played
Statvalue1:52
Statlabel2:Games started
Statvalue2:38
Pfr:S/SimpJo00

John Simpson (born August 19, 1997) is an American football offensive guard for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson.

Early life

Simpson grew up in the Dorchester-Waylyn neighborhood of North Charleston, South Carolina, where he and his younger brother were raised in a single parent household by his mother, and attended Fort Dorchester High School.[1] Rated a four star prospect, Simpson committed to play college football at Clemson over offers from Florida, LSU, South Carolina and Alabama.[2] [3]

College career

Simpson played in nine games (160 total snaps) as a true freshman on Clemson's 2016 National Championship team, missing multiple weeks due to a foot injury.[4] He appeared in 12 games as a sophomore, playing 300 total snaps of the bench as a key reserve on the Tigers' offensive line.[5] Simpson was named the Tigers' starting left guard going into his junior season.[6] Simpson started all 15 games for the Tigers, playing a total of 858 snaps, as the team won the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship was named third-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and to the second-team by the Associated Press.[7] [8] [9]

Simpson was chosen by head coach Dabo Swinney to represent Clemson at the ACC's 2019 media day. He gained national coverage by a wearing a blonde wig to imitate the team's starting quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, whom most members of the media had expected to be Clemson's player representative.[10] He was named preseason first-team All-ACC and to the Outland Trophy watchlist entering the season.[11] [12] He was also listed as the second-best offensive guard prospect for the 2020 NFL Draft by ESPN analyst Mel Kiper.[13] Simpson was named a first-team midseason All-American by the Associated Press.[14] Simpson was the only offensive guard to be named a consensus first-team All-American for the 2019 season.[15]

Professional career

Las Vegas Raiders

Simpson was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in the fourth round, 109th overall, of the 2020 NFL draft.[16] Simpson made his debut on Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints on September 21, 2020, entering the game at left guard in the second quarter to replace starter Richie Incognito after he suffered an injury and playing the remainder of the game.[17] He made his first career start the following week on September 27, 2020, against the New England Patriots.[18]

On December 10, 2022, Simpson was waived.[19]

Baltimore Ravens

On December 19, 2022, Simpson was signed to the Baltimore Ravens practice squad.[20] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 16, 2023.[21]

New York Jets

On March 14, 2024, Simpson signed a two-year contract with the New York Jets[22]

NFL career statistics

YearTeamGamesOffense
GP GS Snaps Pct Holding False start Decl/Pen Acpt/Pen
2020 !LV7 2 252 52% 1 1 2 2
2021 !LV17 17 1,113 98% 9 1 1 11
2022 !LV11 2 181 26% 0 0 1 1
2023 !BAL17 17 1,119 99% 7 2 0 11
Career 52 38 2,665 - 17 4 4 25

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gaynor . Grace . December 28, 2018 . Clemson's John Simpson: From one of Charleston's toughest neighborhoods to football glory . November 15, 2019 . The Post and Courier.
  2. Web site: Chiari . Mike . February 3, 2016 . John Simpson to Clemson: Tigers Land 4-Star OG Prospect . November 15, 2019 . Bleacher Report.
  3. Web site: Simmons . Chad . September 29, 2015 . Who's Truly in the Mix for John Simpson? . November 15, 2019 . 247Sports.com.
  4. Web site: Senkiw . Brad . April 3, 2017 . Player to watch: Clemson left guard John Simpson . November 15, 2019 . The Anderson Independent-Mail.
  5. Web site: Gaynor . Grace . July 20, 2018 . Meet John Simpson: Clemson's lovable, huggable and huge offensive lineman . November 15, 2019 . The Post and Courier.
  6. Web site: Vandervort . Will . June 28, 2018 . Simpson takes over as Tigers' new left guard . November 15, 2019 . TheClemsonInsider.com.
  7. Web site: November 26, 2018 . ACC Announces 2018 All-Conference Football Team . November 15, 2019 . WFMYNews2.com.
  8. Web site: December 4, 2018 . No. 2 Clemson dominates AP All-ACC team again with 11 Tigers . November 15, 2019 . APNews.com.
  9. Web site: Lentz . Zack . April 5, 2019 . CLEMSON FOOTBALL: 4 things to watch in Orange & White . November 15, 2019 . The Times and Democrat.
  10. Web site: Carroll . Charlotte . July 17, 2019 . Clemson Pulls Perfect Trick Play With John 'Trevor Lawrence' Simpson at ACC Media Days . November 15, 2019 . SI.com.
  11. Web site: July 23, 2019 . Clemson dominates All-ACC preseason football balloting . November 15, 2019 . The News & Observer.
  12. Web site: Glover . Emery . July 23, 2019 . Gamecocks' Kinlaw, 2 Clemson offensive linemen named to Outland Trophy Watch List . November 15, 2019 . WISTV.com.
  13. Web site: Kiper . Mel . October 16, 2019 . Kiper's 2020 NFL draft Big Board rankings: How high could Joe Burrow go? . November 15, 2019 . ESPN.com.
  14. Web site: Anderson . Reggie . Two Tigers named AP mid-season All-Americans . WLTX.com.
  15. Web site: Gillespie . Mike . December 19, 2019 . Unanimous honors for Simmons, Simpson highlight Clemson's 2019 All-America selections . December 20, 2019 . ABCColumbia.com.
  16. Web site: Bair . Scott . April 25, 2020 . NFL Draft 2020: How Raiders' John Simpson fits on offensive line . April 26, 2020 . NBC Sports Bay Area.
  17. Web site: Johnson . Marcus . September 22, 2020 . Winners and Losers for Raiders in Week 2 vs. Saints . September 22, 2020 . Raiders Wire . USA Today.
  18. Web site: Gutierrez . Paul . September 28, 2020 . Raiders find a silver (and black?) lining in loss to Patriots with Bills up next . October 26, 2020 . ESPN.com.
  19. Web site: Williams . Charean . December 9, 2022 . Report: Raiders are cutting John Simpson . December 9, 2022 . NBCSports.com .
  20. Web site: Ravens Sign Guard John Simpson to Practice Squad. Brown, Clifton. BaltimoreRavens.com. December 19, 2022.
  21. Web site: Ravens Sign Six Players to Reserve/Future Deals. Mink, Ryan. BaltimoreRavens.com. January 16, 2023.
  22. Web site: OL John Simpson Signs with the Jets. Lange, Randy. NewYorkJets.com. March 14, 2023.