Trenton Simpson is grateful for having ‘year of growth’ as a rookie, ready for bigger role

Going from being a team captain and full-time starter at the collegiate level to taking a backseat to a pair of well-established starters in the pros was a humbling yet welcoming experience for Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Trenton Simpson as a rookie last year. He was selected in the third round out of Clemson in the 2023 NFL Draft and primarily played special teams while bidding his time behind the best off-ball linebacker tandem in the league during what he described as a “year of growth” now that he is poised to become a starter again.

“It’s just been full circle,” Simpson said in Tuesday press conference. “[I was] taking every day [of] my rookie year just day by day, learning from Roquan [Smith] and Patrick Queen, just taking it day by day. Now, it’s just like, ‘Man, I’m ready to roll.’ Just every practice, I’m getting more comfortable and more comfortable, so [I’m] just taking it a day at a time and being blessed with the opportunity and just making every play count.”

As a rookie, the only action he saw on defense through his first 14 games was late in the fourth quarter in a handful of the Ravens lopsided victories. Simpson got his first taste of extended action in the second half of the team’s Week 18 regular season home finale and made the most of it with a career-high seven total tackles including six solos and two for a loss, a quarterback hit and his first career sack.

Simpson believes that having to bide his time “was the best thing that could have happened to me” because it made him have to be patient throughout the season which gave him more time to be prepared for his moment when it came.

In those single-game career-high 26 defensive snaps, he flashed the explosive playmaking potential that has many pundits, his teammates and coaches and Simpson himself confident in his ability to break out in his second season.

“It was just that boost of confidence that I needed, like you said, headed into the offseason knowing like I belong [and] I’m ready to play,” Simpson said. “So, it was a blessing; it was God’s timing. I feel like when I got my chance to go out there and display what I can do, I feel like I made the most out of it.”

One word he repeated several times when talking to reporters was Tuesday about the humbling experience he underwent as a rookie and the opportunity that lies before him heading into his second season was “blessing.” Whether it was the bond he forged with Queen who he would eventually replace as initially believed after he was drafted, not being thrust into a prominent role on defense in year one as his predecessor was in 2020 or being the next man up to get to play next to a two-time First Team All Pro in Smith, he is grateful for it all.

“It’s a blessing, man,’ Simpson said. “I’m living my dream, you know what I mean, and just to be able to be in the National Football League is something I dreamed of since [I was] six years old. My opportunity is here, and these don’t come around [too often], so I just have to make the most out of it. From when we started back and getting going with the OTAs to now, [I’m] just taking it every day at a time, and then by the time [we’re] ready to roll for game one, I’ll be ready. [I’m] just taking it day by day.”

While Queen was already ascending prior to Smith’s arrival midway through the 2022 season, once the two were paired together, his game was raised to another level down the stretch and was even higher in 2023 which resulted in him earning his first career Pro Bowl and Second Team All Pro honors.

With his former teammate and mentor now gone after departing in free agency to become the field general in the middle of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, Simpson is excited about being able to continue learning from Smith on the job lining up next to him.

“That dude is a ‘dawg,’ man,” Simpson said. “His mentality [is the same] every single day. [At] 7 in the morning early work out, that’s the mentality is the same that you all see on Sundays. It’s a blessing to be beside someone like that, learn from him. Also, [I’m] sitting right beside him in film. Whenever I have a question, he’s there to answer it. Off the field, the relationship has grown a lot, also. Just every single day, [I’m] learning something from him and matching his energy. That’s something I picked up: communication and matching his energy every day as a linebacker and leading the defense.”

Thus far through the Ravens’ offseason program, Simpson has been one of the most impressive and improved players. He claims that he has bulked up 235 or 236 pounds but his coaches are more impressed by his continued progression and increased aptitude for the game.

“.Trent is doing awesome right now, every single day getting a little bit better, making progress one day at a time,” Ravens new inside linebacker coach Mark Deleone said. “[He’s] a young player [that] hasn’t played the position for very long. So, I’m just looking for every day [to be] better than the day before, and we’ll continue to work that progress.”

Simpson is still relatively new to playing linebacker after being a hybrid defender in college who lined up all over the alignment for the Tigers including playing a lot of safety. The transition from being a third-level to a second-level player is still underway and going well.

“Every day, seeing how he sees the game, getting his run-pass reads, all those types of things, that kind of progress I think is really good,” Deleone said. “We all know how athletic Trenton is and how fast he is and those types of things. He’s great there. Just seeing that every day and that progress, I love to see him doing that.”