New Orleans Saints guard Torricelli Simpkins III (68) turns around after a play during the second half of a preseason football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (Photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
Technically, Torricelli Simpkins did not play as much in Sunday’s [17-17 tie](https://www.nola.com/tncms/asset/editorial/c6f97f15-2b01-4e2b-b6cc-50be33361670/) against the Jacksonville Jaguars as he did in last week’s preseason game.
After playing 97% of the offense’s snaps in his debut, the New Orleans Saints rookie offensive lineman was pulled from the lineup with just under three minutes left. Instead, he’d settle for playing 50 snaps — still good for 84% of the unit’s total.
Simpkins said the substitution came as a surprise to him. He was ready to play the whole game, if need be.
“I think we’ve built a trust,” Simpkins said, referring to the coaching staff. “They know that I’m going to give it my all no matter how long I’m in there.”
With the Saints resting center Erik McCoy in the preseason, coach Kellen Moore has turned to a little-known, undrafted free agent out of South Carolina who has made a strong impression over the last few weeks.
Simpkins’ rise correlated with the Saints moving him from guard to center, a shift that didn’t happen until weeks into training camp. But Simpkins more than welcomed the change. Though he played guard with the Gamecocks, center was his natural position, his “first love.” He primarily played there during his three years at North Carolina Central, the historically Black college where Simpkins began his college career.
Since then, Simpkins has not only excelled on the interior, but he has also helped the Saints withstand a season-ending injury to backup Will Clapp. Simpkins played as much as he did last week because Clapp unexpectedly went down just two snaps into the game.
This week, Simpkins played as much as he did because the Saints’ coaching staff likes what they’ve seen out of the 6-foot-5, 312-pound lineman.
“The most important thing is his play style,” Moore said. “We love how physical he plays, how aggressive he plays. It’s not all perfect. It’s not expected to be perfect at this stage of his career, but his play style is everything we want.”
The Saints, it seems, want offensive linemen who will knock one opposing defensive lineman to the ground and then proceed to hunt another on the same play — as Simpkins did against the Chargers. The Saints want linemen who shove the oncoming rusher to the dirt, even if it means getting down and dirty himself, as Simpkins did on a block to protect Tyler Shough. The Saints, it seems, want players who “want blood on every play” — a phrase Yahoo Sports’ Nice Tice used to describe Simpkins.
Aggression? Simpkins knows about aggression. It was necessary, he said, growing up in Aiken, South Carolina. The oldest of six children, Simpkins would go outside and play tackle football — “no pads on,” he said — against his cousins.
“Where I grew up, you want to play hard, because guess what? If you don’t play hard, the person across from you is going to play hard, and he’s going to try and embarrass you,” Simpkins said. “I feel like the way I grew up with my family, we were always tough on each other.
“We were always trying to make each other be strong, be tough. So I always just took that into the field.”
Simpkins has also shown that he’s smart.
The 23-year-old said he likes playing center because it slows the game down for him. He has to scan the field and recognize the defense. And he has to communicate any possible protection adjustments to the quarterback and the rest of the offense. Playing center, he said, makes him feel like a leader, like he’s a second quarterback on the field.
The NFL, too, has been different in terms of his responsibilities. Simpkins said he’s had to be more attuned to what the safeties are doing before the snap, as well as what kind of front the defensive line is in. He said he’s found there’s a lot more variety of looks — fronts he had only previously recognized from EA Sports’ Madden video game.
Smiling, Simpkins said he’s a bit of a “gamer,” and defenses are employing the same fronts that he’d call in the video game.
“I’m super-impressed with him,” Shough said, noting Simpkins’ switch to center has allowed the lineman to “hit the ground running” and stay in the lineup. “I couldn't be more proud of him. ... He stepped up in a big way. And I think he's going to have a really long career, especially (at) that position.
“He's kind of answered the bell.”
The goal for Simpkins, of course, is to make the Saints' 53-man roster. He said securing a spot would “mean everything,” adding he’s worked his whole life for that moment.
Each day, that increasingly has looked more and more like a formality.
“When I see somebody running around, I try to go hit them as hard as I can,” Simpkins said. “So they don’t do it again.”