Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes shared his excitement about the Kansas City Chiefs playing their first game of the 2025 NFL season in Brazil against the L.A. Chargers. By Emily Curiel
The Chiefs didn’t draft Josh Simmons with their first-round pick in April to build up their depth. His selection was as purposeful of a pick as the Chiefs have made in recent years.
Simmons is in Kansas City to fix a leak that turned into a gusher during the Chiefs’ Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. And a new-look left side of the KC offensive line takes the field in a regular-season game for the first time on Friday.
The Chiefs open the season in Sao Paulo, Brazil against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chiefs’ bid for a fourth straight Super Bowl appearance could turn on how much their line has evolved from patchwork to strength, especially at left tackle.
The nerves, “are there,” Simmons said Sunday. “But I think you cancel those out with preparation, so that’s what I’m ready to do.”
That lean toward preparation goes a long way to explaining the Chiefs’ positive vibes about Simmons. The team was especially pleased with how he attacked his rehabilitation after suffering a torn patellar tendon while playing for Ohio State last season.
Simmons spent the time between minicamp and training camp toiling in Kansas City, working to hit the ground running when the drudgery of camp in St. Joseph began.
Not only did Simmons flash his immense potential there but he brought an edge, even trading punches on a hot day at training camp with fellow Chiefs rookie Ashton Gillotte.
“Everyone sees the talent,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said. “He’s got a different level of compete that maybe you can quantify as surprising us to some degree.”
Also impressing Veach during the preseason was Simmons’ approach in one-one-one drills pitting the Chiefs’ offensive against the defensive linemen. Not when Simmons won those battles, but when he lost.
“There were days when the guy got him, and he was like, ‘Let’s go again. Let’s go again,’” Veach said.
The Chiefs know there will be rookie mistakes, but they believe in Simmons’ potential. If they’re right about his upside, they may well have solidified a position that has returned its starter just once in the past six years. Orlando Brown Jr. was the Chiefs’ regular left tackle in 2021 and 2022.
“I’ll probably be saying this every week through the season, but it’s his first year, so there are going to be things that he hasn’t seen before, and he’s got to fight through that,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “But he’s a talented kid and he’s willing — he wants to do well and he has worked very hard. He’s worked very hard to get himself into this position right here to be the starter.”
Before the 2024 season had concluded, the Chiefs used four different starters at left tackle and still managed to post a franchise-record 15 regular-season victories and win the AFC for the fifth time in six years. The first of the tackles was rookie Kingsley Suamataia, who has since been switched to left guard and is set to start next to Simmons.
Suamataia shift occurred during the regular season and he played a full game there in the Chiefs’ Week 18 loss to the Denver Broncos. The Chiefs have said they like what they’ve seen from the Simmons/Suamataia left side of the offensive line, and those two played well together over 21 snaps in the final preseason game against the Chicago Bears.
Now, of course, it counts. The last time superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes played behind his offensive line in a non-preseason game, he was sacked by the Eagles six times, most in his career, in Super Bowl LIX. Mahomes has played in 133 games in the regular season and playoffs and had never absorbed a similar beatdown.
Center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith, Pro Bowl selections last season, are back, as is right tackle Jawaan Taylor. The Chiefs also picked up free-agent swing tackle Jaylon Moore to solidify the line.
But as the Chiefs confront the Chargers and a defense that in 2024 led the NFL in fewest points allowed — a unit spearheaded by potent edge rushers Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipuotu — all eyes will be on the rookie left tackle who has done nothing but impress thus far.
“First, I just want to do my job,” Simmons said. “I want to make sure my teammates can count on me.”