FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — When Jessie Bates III declared for the 2018 NFL Draft following his redshirt sophomore season at Wake Forest, the player comparisons rolled in as they always do. As draft weekend inched closer, the same name kept coming up time and time again when pundits discussed Bates' skillset.
He looks — and plays — a lot like Justin Simmons, many said.
At the time, Simmons had just wrapped his second year in the league, his first as a full-time starter with the Denver Broncos. He was a young safety coming into his own, accounting for four interceptions (one returned for a 65-yard touchdown) and 99 combined tackles in 16 starts over the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
The way he moved; the way he commanded a defense and analyzed the offensive tendencies in front of him; it was reminiscent of what Bates was doing at the college level. Once Bates entered the league as a second-round pick by the Cincinnati Bengals, he remembered those player comps.
From afar, he watched Simmons. And what he saw was a ball-hawk safety explode onto the scene, accumulating 30 interceptions (a league-leading six in 2022) and over 600 combined tackles en route to being selected for the Pro Bowl twice in his eight-year career.
JB3 was keeping tabs on JS31.
Meanwhile, Simmons was doing the same. And what he saw was Bates' own come up. In six seasons, Bates accumulated 20 interceptions (a team-leading six in 2023) and over 600 combined tackles en route to being selected to his first Pro Bowl last season.
The two shared a similar ascent. Now, they will share the same secondary. And for Bates, it's a full-circle moment he feels the immediate effects of now that Simmons has begun working at 100% with the team for the first time after signing a one-year deal with the organization a few weeks ago.
"You never have to worry about him understanding what coverage we're in or how an offense is trying to attack us," Bates said.
"... There's been times when I haven't had a safety where he can play that side and I can play this side. I am always to the nickel or he's always to the nickel, or whatever it was. It's cool to bounce off somebody like (Simmons). He's played to the nickel, he's played away from the nickel, he's played in the box."
That's nothing against any of the other safeties he's played with in the past, Bates clarified. It's just that Simmons has done it all and done it at a level that's unmatched in certain circles.
Speaking of circles, one has expanded in the last few weeks to include Simmons.
Since quarterback Kirk Cousins joined the fold back in March, he and Bates have been holding regularly scheduled film sessions together. With Simmons now officially on board with the Falcons for 2024, the duo has become a trio.
What Cousins has observed of the safeties' dynamic in these sessions is that Simmons lets Bates lead. Simmons is very much still in the learning phase of getting this defensive terminology and play style down pat. He's letting Bates be his guide.
"You have to observe and see how things are done, and make sure you learn the scheme," Cousins explained. "So, I think we haven't even seen what he can be, or what he will be as the year goes on. But I do think it's a really great safety duo back there."
These film sessions, with or without Cousins, are crucial for Bates and Simmons as they prepare to share the field together.
"We've watched film with Kirk a couple times. We watch film together. We're just getting ahead on stuff and trying to be leaders of that secondary," Bates said of the off-field work. "There's a lot of film study that goes into it, a lot of text throughout the night being like, 'Hey, what do you think about this? What do you think about that?' We're sending each other videos, going through different game plan adjustments."
From Simmons' perspective, he's been "really thankful" for Bates in these moments.
"Man, we put in extra hours of film, extra time after walkthroughs, before, after," Simmons said. "But it has to correlate on Sunday for it to mean something."
And there's the crux of the matter: We don't really know what this duo will ultimately look like together within the Falcons' secondary. All we know right now is that they have the same goal, which is to compliment each other, win games and make others around them better.
Bates and Simmons have proven capable in all three areas throughout their careers, especially in the impact they have on others. It's something assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray has said is most notable about both of their careers.
Sometimes, though, when you have two alphas, two leaders, two former team captains, there could be one too many cooks in the kitchen, one too many voices talking at once. However, it's obvious right now, with the way Simmons defers to Bates' knowledge of the scheme and team at large, that is not remotely the case.
In all actuality, no one really thinks it will ever get to that point.
"They have so much respect for each other," head coach Raheem Morris said. "… I think those guys are more looking to go out there and explode."
The plan is to do so together. As Bates said, there's an ease in knowing it's Simmons alongside him.
"Just having a guy who's been there, had success for a very long time," Bates said, "it puts you at a peace of mind to be able to go and play faster."
