Josh Simmons’ decision to leave Ohio State after tearing his patellar tendon in October was driven by his desire to get healthy as quickly as possible before the NFL draft.
Unlike fellow Ohio State offensive lineman Seth McLaughlin, who remained with the Buckeyes for the duration of their national championship run after tearing his Achilles in November, Simmons left OSU shortly after his season-ending injury to undergo surgery and have his recovery overseen by renowned orthopedic surgeon Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
“I knew I wanted to go play in the NFL, so I needed to get on this ASAP,” Simmons said. “If it was like an ankle injury, ankle sprain, obviously, I definitely would have been on the sideline (with Ohio State). You want to get in the best care, so I think Neal ElAttrache and his clinic down there with the best idea for me.”
Four-and-a-half months later, that decision is paying off. During his interview session at the NFL Scouting Combine on Saturday, Simmons said he is “way ahead of schedule” in his recovery and expects to be able to work out for scouts before the NFL draft in April.
“I'll probably be cut loose mid-April to give everybody a good pro day,” Simmons said.
Simmons suffered the injury during Ohio State’s sixth game of the season at Oregon, going down on his own as his knee gave out while he was blocking Oregon defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei. Initially, he thought Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson had just run into the back of his leg, but he realized the severity of the injury when he tried to stand up.
“I felt like a little pop, but I thought somebody hit the back of my knee at first, until I tried to get up,” Simmons said.
Knowing he had improved significantly from 2023, earning midseason All-American honors from the Senior Bowl for his play in Ohio State’s first six games, Simmons said it was frustrating to have his season and Ohio State career – as he had already decided to enter the 2025 NFL draft rather than use his final season of eligibility – end early. But the injury has given him a greater appreciation for the opportunity he has in front of him and shown him not to take anything for granted.
“You do everything right, you make a big improvement from ‘23 to ‘24, and then something like that happens; you definitely kind of get the reality of anything can happen, so just take advantage of everything that you have in front of you,” Simmons said. “So I put it all in the tank. A lot of people will get down on themselves about an injury, right? Especially when you're trying to – I was going for it all, right? I was going to not only win the national championship but personal goals, like the Outland Trophy, all that stuff. You just got to put it in the tank, right? It's just a little speed bump. Once you get all that in your mindset, that you're going to come back a lot stronger, wake up the demons inside you kind of, you know there's no way to stop you.”
Despite the injury, Simmons is projected to be a first-round pick as one of the top offensive tackles in this year’s draft class. His physical gifts have a lot to do with that, as Simmons has prototypical size and athleticism for an edge protector, but so does his work ethic, which he says is what enabled him to play at an elite level before his injury in his final season.
“I like to think I'm very ahead in terms of repertoire, pass sets, the way I think of the game, how I diagnose fronts and stuff like that,” Simmons said. “If you get all that in your head and you can knock that out as soon as before you even step up to the ball, you can play a lot faster.”
Josh Simmons started 19 games at left tackle for Ohio State over two seasons before his injury.
Simmons transferred to Ohio State two years ago because he believed OSU and offensive line coach Justin Frye – who’s now the offensive line coach for the Arizona Cardinals – could develop him into a top NFL prospect. Now that he’s on the doorstep of becoming a high draft pick, he’s glad he made that decision and that Ohio State took a chance on him.
“I'm very glad,” Simmons said. “I think it was kind of like a gamble a little bit, just because like you go off of 17 penalties (at San Diego State in 2022), really rough around the edges guy. Then you go to Ohio State, put my trust in Coach Frye, and he did the damn thing. He turned me into a monster.”
Simmons said Frye sold him on how he would be developed for the NFL during the transfer recruiting process and that Frye delivered on everything he promised.
“Coach Frye's recruitment is in his development. He's going to show you exactly what he's going to do with you and how he's going to get you to that NFL, which is, I think, priceless,” Simmons said. “He showed me exactly step-by-step: This is what we're going to do first when you get here. This is what we're going to do once you get the basics down. And let’s emphasize it, put it all together, this is what we're going to do. He told me a step-by-step plan of what he was going to do for me. And (transferring to Ohio State) was a no-brainer.
“Obviously, I was rough around the edges. I had a lot of technical issues. So he was like, ‘Let's get your stance right. Let's utilize your upper body strength. Let's get you knowing about offenses and defenses and stuff like that, that way when you get on the field, you play a lot faster.’ Then just tying in techniques. If you see me like snatch block, if you see me like pulling around and trying to like slingshot people up the field, that was all Coach Frye.”
“Put my trust in Coach Frye, and he did the damn thing. He turned me into a monster.”– Josh Simmons on former Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye
While he wasn’t with the Buckeyes for their College Football Playoff run (except for the Rose Bowl, which he attended since he was in Los Angeles), Simmons said it was “amazing” watching Ohio State win the national championship from afar. He can still call himself a national champion for the contributions he made to the team before his injury, and he was proud of his former teammates that they were able to get the job done without him.
“Obviously you want to be out there with your brothers, right? But I mean, they handled business. So I was just really happy for them and cheering for them the whole way,” Simmons said.
