Chiefs' Kingsley Suamataia projected to win key camp battle.
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Kansas City Chiefs 2024 draft pick Kingsley Suamataia (#76) with the starting offensive line in 2024.
The biggest question surrounding the Kansas City Chiefs this summer is still the offensive line and how well the blocking unit will protect quarterback Patrick Mahomes II.
Left tackle is a crucial element of that conversation, but so is left guard. The Chiefs have hinted that there will be an open competition at Joe Thuney’s old position this summer, and two names stand out as the most likely candidates to claim the left guard job in 2025.
Those players are veteran fill-in Mike Caliendo, who has experience starting at the position already, and 2024 draft pick Kingsley Suamataia, who is expected to move inside after struggling at left tackle as a rookie.
On May 15, Bleacher Report analyst Matt Holder predicted that Suamataia would prevail and win the LG role in the starting five.
“The left guard spot will be one to keep an eye on as Suamataia is expected to slide inside,” Holder noted within the article. And that confidence likely stems from two factors: signaling and overall talent.
Chiefs decision-makers Brett Veach and Andy Reid have pointed out that they thought Suamataia handled himself well during his Week 18 audition at left guard last season. Not well enough to unseat Caliendo in the playoffs, but well enough to develop this summer, perhaps.
Secondly, Suamataia is a former second-round pick while Caliendo entered the league as an undrafted prospect. Teams will say that doesn’t matter at the start of a competition, but it does.
When push comes to shove, the Chiefs would like to get something out of Suamataia after investing that sort of draft capital in him. They likely don’t trade Thuney if their left guard options are Caliendo or bust in 2025.
Finding a long-term role for Suamataia was a big part of the decision.
Mike Caliendo Showed That He Is Not the Answer at Left Guard During the Chiefs’ 2024-25 Playoff Run
This Chiefs camp battle is only just beginning, but Caliendo’s first shot at landing the job came last winter, and it didn’t go well.
Caliendo put together a couple of decent starts at the tail end of the regular season. Which was seemingly enough for Coach Reid to start him over Suamataia and veteran offensive tackle D.J. Humphries during the playoffs (with Thuney at LG).
Who knows if Suamataia or Humphries might have given the Chiefs a better chance to win during the Super Bowl, but what we do know is that Caliendo struggled all postseason against top competition.
According to Pro Football Focus, Caliendo was charged with 4 quarterback pressures against the Houston Texans, 2 QB pressures (including 1 sack) vs. the Buffalo Bills, and 2 QB pressures (including 1 sack) in the championship final. And his run-blocking grades weren’t much better.
That’s not good enough for Kansas City moving forward, and the Chiefs should be worried if Suamataia doesn’t step up and win this training camp battle in 2025.
Ex-Chiefs LG Joe Thuney Gets Contract Extension With Bears
Speaking of the Chiefs’ left guard position, the former KC starter was in the news on May 20.
“Compensation update: New [Chicago] Bears guard Joe Thuney is receiving a two-year contract extension at $17.5 million per year, per source, making it $51 million for the next three years with $33.5 million fully guaranteed at signing,” ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported on X.
So, Thuney isn’t retiring anytime soon.
While it’s nice to see the All-Pro guard get rewarded for his recent efforts in Kansas City, the results of the next few seasons will determine if the Chiefs made the right call trading Thuney so that they could keep players like Trey Smith, Nick Bolton, Hollywood Brown and Jawaan Taylor (a 2025 trade or cut candidate in his own right).