It's quite possible that Kingsley Suamataia works out just fine for the Kansas City Chiefs. By season's end, Chiefs fans might be celebrating the narrative of a successful, youthful transformation of the left side of the offensive line. Together with rookie left tackle Josh Simmons, Chiefs Kingdom might be raising a glass to Suamataia's impressive development in 2025.
As it stands right now, however, tenuous is the better word for how the position of left guard feels these days.
A few months have passed since the Chiefs decided the best decision for the long-term health of the organization was to trade away Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears. While painful in the short term—there's not an employee at Arrowhead who doesn't respect and admire the work that Thuney has put in for the Chiefs—age and money wielded their influences in the bigger picture, and the Chiefs decided to cut ties with the veteran guard.
It's hard not to think about the certainty that came with Thuney's presence at left guard.
The Chiefs reoriented their offseason plan once the NFL announced a higher-than-expected salary cap for the '25 season at $279 million. That amount allowed the Chiefs to bring back Trey Smith on a multi-year extension instead of losing him in free agency (or tagging and trading him), keeping a youthful core of Smith and center Creed Humphrey locked up through 2028, at least.
The cost for the current season was significant, however. Thuney was a perennial All-Pro guard playing his best football of his career while holding down well over 1,000 snaps per season. He was the leader of a younger unit, and an anchor for an offense that called on him to even switch to left tackle for the entire stretch run in 2024.
Replacing Thuney is an impossible task. No one is going to match his level of elite pass blocking. Matter of fact, it will be hard enough to simply identify someone who can be that reliable snap after snap.
That's what makes it hard to watch Suamataia struggle at times in his new position at left guard after the failed experiment to bestow the left tackle mantle on him a year ago. Chiefs fans are used to seeing an exemplary performer at left guard, someone who never draws attention because the job is done right every time.
Through his first two preseason games at left guard, Suamataia has shown considerable promise but there are enough lapses, enough moments when he's overwhelmed immediately, and it kills the play. Even worse, it could lead to significant injury.
Herein lies the rub: the Chiefs haven't given Suamataia enough reps to make an accurate judgment call. They've given left guard reps to Jaylon Moore in practice. In addition, Suamataia only had 10 snaps against Seattle on Friday, and that came on the heels of an 11 snap appearance in the first preseason contest.
Keeping Suamataia in on two drives and then resting him for the duration is wasting a golden opportunity to give him meaningful reps against live competition. It's as if the Chiefs are content to wait until the regular season to see how Suamataia handles the demands of four full quarters in the role. You can just imagine opposing defensive coordinators salivating at the chance to test him.
That said, Andy Reid stated on Monday that he likes what he sees from the left side of the line. "I like how physical they’re playing for sure. The more reps they get, the better I think for them, but I think they’ve done a good job over there. "
None of this is to say that Suamataia will not succeed. Everyone in Chiefs Kingdom would love nothing more. It would mean that the Chiefs were able to largely complete a youth movement up front, which saves significant money and allows chemistry to develop over multiple seasons together.
For now, however, it's hard not to think about the certainty that came with Thuney's presence at left guard. Questions at the position feel new and awkward, and they're not going away with the regular season looming in a matter of weeks.