Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms told the Daily News that he didn’t like the Giants’ trade for Brian Burns.
He loved it.
“When the Giants traded for him, I just wanna go, ‘Throw the bat down, circle the bases, because it’s a home run,’” Simms said on The Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard podcast. “He’s good against the run, chases down from behind, always hustling. He is a tremendous pass rusher, and he is a mess-up-the-play guy, too. I mean he crushed tackles, everything.
“It literally can have the impact of having the quarterback come in and be the guy, too,” the Super Bowl XXI MVP continued. “I really think he’s that good, that instrumental. He’s gonna change offenses’ [game plans against the Giants defense]. You’ve gotta pay attention to him. This has a chance to change their football team big time.”
Simms said he watched every Carolina Panthers game from last season and was most encouraged by Burns’ consistent impact. Burns, 25, only had eight sacks on a losing team, but Simms said the film showed important context: Burns was wrecking plays even when the stat sheet didn’t show it.
“The thing about defensive pass rushers, [the question usually is] ‘Oh, how many sacks did you get?’” Simms said. “[But also] how many times did you just mess up the play and somebody else got it that we don’t count? He’s both.”
Plenty of Simms’ Giants insight went against the grain, too. He doesn’t believe GM Joe Schoen will draft a quarterback at No. 6 overall in this year’s first round, for example. Drew Lock’s signing to join the QB room with Daniel Jones is one reason why.
But Simms, a longtime standout NFL on CBS analyst, is breaking down all of the NFL Draft’s quarterback prospects on the Simms Complete podcast with his son, Matt, on the Bleav Network. So he had a ton of insights on prospects such as Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Oregon’s Bo Nix, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and more.
That included an interesting name Simms considers worthy of a late-round pick by an NFL team with a developmental angle at the position.
SHOULD JOE GO FOR JOE?
Simms said there are “a lot” of QBs in this draft who are “worthy of being on an NFL roster,” and “there is no question” the Giants could find value in the later rounds on a developmental QB if they wish.
“Joe Milton III at Tennessee, man, if he’s there in the fifth round, my ass is taking him,” Simms said excitedly, putting himself in the shoes of any NFL GM around the league, not just Schoen’s. “I’d like to meet him and watch him workout, but it’s just too enticing. He’s got things that we can see. And there’s a few of those [QBs in this draft].”
Milton, a 6-5, 235 pound Michigan transfer, threw 32 touchdown passes to five interceptions in his three seasons with the Volunteers. He opened Tennessee’s 2021 season as the starting QB before an injury created room for Hendon Hooker to jump him.
He went 8-4 in 2023, his only full season as a starter. He also stood out at the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine with Giants QB coach and passing game coordinator Shea Tierney on the field.
Milton, 24, has a big arm and eludes pressure and extends plays well, but he needs to improve his timing, accuracy and touch. That could be the ideal profile for a young QB who can enter the Giants’ locker room and develop without calls for him to start every other week.
He is just one of a handful of QBs that Simms considers sleepers, though, a group he will continue to reveal on his podcast.
“I’m telling you. The fifth round comes around? Call me during the draft. I’ll say this [hypothetical] guy is really a third rounder,” Simms said of that group.
BIG ON BO
Simms sees USC’s Caleb Williams and LSU’s Jayden Daniels being the top two picks in the draft to Chicago and Washington, respectively. But he is extremely high on Oregon QB Bo Nix, who he believes will “go in the top half of the first round.”
“I think he’s a grown man – in every aspect,” Simms said. “He understands how to act, what to do. Very studious, made great decisions. Maybe not an overpowering arm but man, did I see him make a lot of good throws in games. I mean, a lot. And I just go: That was really NFL stuff as I watched it fly down the field.
“His father was a coach, so he’s gonna come in and not be awed by anything,” the two-time Super Bowl champ added. “He’s gonna pick up the system. He’s already got that mentality of an NFL quarterback. And I think the transition is gonna be quite easy for him.”
Simms wasn’t sure about a fit with the Giants, but there is one team he thinks makes sense for Nix at No. 12 overall.
“I did look at the Giants and think Bo Nix, is that gonna work? Whatever. But I look at the Denver Broncos,” Simms said. “And I say that because Sean Payton wants to put a lot of stuff on the quarterback’s shoulders. A lot. More than any coach in the league. And that’s saying something. Maybe [Minnesota Vikings head coach] Kevin O’Connell is right there with him when he had Kirk Cousins.
“But they give you so much information, and they expect you to dissect it, apply it and make it work,” he continued. “And that’s who [Payton] is looking for. So [Nix] is a good fit there. The question is, ‘Is Sean Payton happy enough with all the physical things to bring him in there if he’s there when they pick?’”
He doesn’t think the Broncos will be the only team that loves Nix, either. So it’s still up in the air where he’ll end up.
“I don’t know where he’ll go,” he said. “I think he’ll go in the top half of the first round. I don’t see a lot that would worry me about Bo Nix.”
MCCARTHY: DEVELOP THEN PLAY
Simms likes Michigan’s McCarthy, but he doesn’t believe the Giants will pick him at No. 6 overall. And he doesn’t thi or that he’ll be a day one starter in the league.
“I like him a lot, but when I really judge it, I just don’t see him being a top six pick,” Simms said. “That’s just my opinion right now. He’s a first-rounder: size, mobility and arm strength. Those are things you can build on…. I just can’t see him being a day one starter.”
Simms simply thinks McCarthy needs more seasoning due to a lack of throwing in the Wolverines’ “really tight pro style offense.”
He did say McCarthy is “bigger than everybody thinks,” though, has a “really good arm,” and might end up being capable of taking over relatively quickly for a struggling team if they take him in the top 10.
“He’s the kind of guy, if he does get drafted high – let’s say the Giants take him at No. 6 – they’re not gonna rush it along,” Simms said. “But by the time Week 5 or 6 comes around in the season – depending on how the team is doing and how the quarterback is playing – they’re gonna be grooming him to get somebody ready like that. And that transition, it’ll be quick and painless. He’s in, the guy’s out.”
DON’T TRADE UP
Simms thinks the Patriots’ signing of Jacoby Brissett and the Giants’ signing of a Lock, both of whom are good and capable QBs, indicate that “both of those teams are not big-time into taking a quarterback” at No. 3 or 6.
“Could I be wrong? Of course,” he said. “But there’s other [positions] they need to cover and do.”
He didn’t rule out a trade back to take that first-round QB. But he said as much as he likes LSU’s Daniels, for example, he wouldn’t be trading up for that player if he were the Giants or Patriots.
“I like Jayden Daniels a lot,” he said. “Really polished, moves around really fast when he gets out in the open field. Very accurate when he gets rid of the football. Maybe lacks a little arm strength, but he ran an offense that was talented with receivers, a really good system. It was absolutely pro football, as close as you can get, on the offensive side. And he did a good job.”
He sees him as a great fit with Washington and new OC Kliff Kingsbury at No. 2.
Meanwhile, Simms said whoever drafts the Huskies’ Penix is going to make their incumbent starter nervous.
“Once they see him throw a couple days in practice, the starting quarterback is gonna go, ‘Well this is crap, having him around.’ Because it’s special when he throws the ball. If you like to really throw the football, then he’s the guy to go get. He’s one of the guys.”
And he feels the Tarheels’ Maye is a “good prospect” who made some “pretty borderline unbelievable” throws at North Carolina, but he “misses too many easy passes.” He believes that can be fixed; he doesn’t think he’ll be the Patriots’ pick at No. 3.
Listen to the full podcast for Simms’ scouting reports on the Giants’ Jones and Lock, his review of the Philadelphia Eagles’ struggles, his strong takes on Justin Fields and much more.
