Any fear in his pre-draft analysis was that Simmons could play a lot of places but might not have one home on the field. Even Simmons allowed that his role at Clemson was "pretty experimental. We weren't sure if was going to work or not."

But Keim said while there must be a plan for Simmons, "when you evaluate him, that's his strength, his versatility and the things he can do.

"When you have a guy that's this long, this fast and this productive, you just let him go."

Simmons said he isn't opposed to the Cardinals putting him at one spot, but he is "very, very open" to moving around.

"The biggest thing I can said about Isaiah is if you get 53 men on a roster, he's like having 56," Clemson head coach Dabo Sweeney said.

If COVID-19 ultimately wipes out any on-field work in the offseason, it will impact Simmons' immediate impact, coach Kliff Kingsbury acknowledged. But that's the same for any rookie.

Simmons will also benefit because the Cardinals do have legitimate starters across the back seven on defense – they just signed veteran De'Vondre Campbell to a one-year deal to play next to Jordan Hicks at inside linebacker, Simmons' likely eventual home if there is one – that gives defensive coordinator Vance Joseph that much more flexibility with the rookie.

"There will be a little more of a grace period, and move him around and do different things with him because there isn't an extreme need sitting here today where day one he has to make a major impact at a certain position," Kingsbury said.

Keim, not surprisingly, couldn't stop raving about his new defensive piece. Teams did call to inquire about trading with the Cardinals and move up to the eighth spot, but Keim wasn't budging once Simmons fell. In a league where linebackers are often not athletic enough to cover today's tight ends and safeties aren't long enough, Simmons does both.

Keim called him a "gumby doll" athletically, with no stiff movements, elite lateral quickness and "he can run and close like a bullet." It was no wonder he was one of the top talents Keim targeted.

The GM wasn't sure where he might start – dime linebacker, "moe" linebacker, strong safety, somewhere else.