Simpson rediscovers his self-belief
26-year-old left guard earns a starting job in the process
The news arrived matter of factly.
“If we play tomorrow,” Ravens offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris told John Simpson, “you’d be the starter.”
That’s how it often happens in the NFL as cutdown day looms. If a player isn’t going to make the 53-man roster, he’s informed by the head coach. But for those who win the mini civil wars over precious open spots? They just get to keep coming to work.
Ravens wide receiver Tylan Wallace spent a nervous few minutes in his car Tuesday as the 4 p.m. deadline for cuts loomed. When he didn’t receive a phone call summoning him to a meeting with John Harbaugh, he exhaled and drove home. “I figured if nobody said anything, I figured I was good,” he said.
For Simpson, it was that chat with D’Alessandris last week, a tidy conclusion to his battle with rookie Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu to start at left guard. The verdict was not a surprise by that point. Though Aumavae-Laulu had begun training camp taking reps with the four established starters on the offensive line, Simpson had outplayed him in two preseason games and taken over most of the first-team work in practice.
Nonetheless, D’Alessandris’ words signaled a milestone for the 26-year-old offensive lineman in his climb from the depths of athletic despair.
“I lacked confidence,” he said, describing his outlook in December after the Las Vegas Raiders waived him and his career seemed to be at a crossroads. “I just didn’t really know what would happen or what was going on.”
The 6-foot-4, 330-pound Simpson had been a big man on campus at Clemson, starting 29 of a possible 30 games in his junior and senior seasons and earning praise from NFL scouts for his broad, powerful physique and his hunger to eliminate defenders from running lanes. The Raiders drafted him in the fourth round in 2020, and he started all 17 games for them in his second season.
How was he out of a job less than a year later, just when he expected to be entering his prime?
The Ravens signed him to their practice squad just before Christmas, but he did not see immediate action for his new team, and his name was not the first off anyone’s lips when discussion turned to replacing Ben Powers at left guard.
Before he could worry about that, Simpson needed to re-center himself.
“I think just putting one thing at a time, one day at a time and just trying to get better, honestly,” he said, laughing at himself for turning to such a well-worn explanation. “I wish I had a different answer, but that’s how I went about training camp. Coach [D’Alessandris] says it all the time. He says, ‘It’s one thing at a time. One day at a time. One play at a time. Whatever it is, just do that, and you’ll see improvement.’ ”
Cliches exist for a reason, and this purifying mindset worked for Simpson as did the fresh start provided by a change in locales. “That definitely played a part in it,” he said. “I think just getting here and realizing it’s still just football, I think that helped me out a lot.”