Mississippi State defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons, the Tennessee Titans' first-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft, is disruptive in more ways than one.

When his hand is in the dirt on the defensive front, he can be challenging for offensive linemen to deal with. His 29 tackles for loss during his college career, including 14.5 as a junior last year, are indicative of that.

What Simmons also disrupts, though, is a pattern than general manager Jon Robinson has held fast to since joining the Titans organization in 2016: he doesn't take risks in the first round.

Jack Conklin, the Titans' 2016 first rounder, was a high-character run blocker who excelled against top competition. Corey Davis and Adoree' Jackson, the team's 2017 first round picks, both produced at the collegiate level in their own respects and had zero red flags.

Rashaan Evans, whom the Titans took with their first pick last year, was a productive, high-caliber athlete coming out of a program (Alabama) that consistently produces good NFL talent for the defensive front.

Simmons, in contrast, is not clean-cut. He has multiple red flags, on the field and off.

His on-the-field red flag is the fact that, as a rookie, he might never actually be on the field. He suffered a torn ACL in February, which will likely keep him sidelined for the entire 2019 season.

Off the field, Simmons was involved in a well-documented domestic incident back in 2016 that ultimately kept him from being invited to the NFL Scouting Combine.

"There are bad people, and there are good people that make bad decisions," said head coach Mike Vrabel, speaking of Simmons' domestic incident. "You can fix mistakes, you can't fix bad people.

"I'm excited to have Jeff sit in front of [the media] tomorrow and share that story. He doesn't hide behind it, he stands up like a grown man, and he owns it. I can promise that I will be proud of him tomorrow when he meets with [the media]."

"We haven't brought bad people into this organization since I've been here," said general manager Jon Robinson. "I'm a firm believer in getting to know people and believing them, doing research when you're adding a player to a football team.

"Not just talking to one person, but talking to several, several people to feel comfortable adding a player like that, not only to the team but to the community. People just raved about [Simmons] as a person."

When I first met Robinson a few years ago at a Titans event, I asked him about his approach to evaluating players with character concerns, whether it be substance abuse, violence, or anything else.

Though I don't have the exact quote written down, I do remember him explaining the importance of performing an individual evaluation as a team and not simply relying on what other people have found or concluded.

During his time with the Titans, Robinson has never ruffled feathers. The Simmons pick will certainly do just that.

But if Robinson and Vrabel are sold on Simmons as a person and a player, there is really no reason for Titans fans not to be.

The biggest risk with Simmons seems to not be his character, but his injury. More information on that front should come out in the coming days.

Cover image: USA Today/Christopher Hanewinckel