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By Brandon Kiley
This time last week, I wondered aloud if the Chiefs would take a player off the board with their first selection. Conventional wisdom suggested offensive tackle was the play. It made sense. The Chiefs need a long-term answer at the position. But there was a real chance the top tackles were off the board when the Chiefs were on the clock. What would the team do in such a scenario?
We’ll never know. Because sometimes the obvious pick is also the correct pick.
“It feels like it could be the makings of a complete steal (if Josh Simmons goes in the back half of round one),” Dane Brugler said on The Athletic’s NFL Show prior to the draft. “If he fell to the Chiefs at 31, that would be ridiculous. He fits exactly what they’re looking for.”
He does, indeed.
The Chiefs need a long-term answer at left tackle. That’s not due to a lack of trying. Brett Veach attempted to court future Hall of Famer Trent Williams. He traded a first-round pick for Orlando Brown Jr. and attempted to sign Brown to a long-term extension. He used top 100 picks on Lucas Niang, Wanya Morris and Kingsley Suamataia. He even signed former Pro Bowl left tackle DJ Humphries last season in an attempt to patch over the position.
None of it stuck. So, this offseason, the plan required even more aggressiveness. The first step in the Chiefs’ plan was the signing of former 49ers offensive tackle Jaylon Moore to a two-year, $30 million contract. Such a deal helped the Chiefs enter the season with a capable option at left tackle, regardless of how the draft unfolded. Still, the short-term deal also kept the door open for the Chiefs to take their long-term answer at the position if such a player became available late in the first round.
It was a smart plan, and it worked to perfection.
“If Simmons played the full season, I don’t think there is any question he would have been the top offensive lineman in the class,” renowned offensive line analyst Brandon Thorn said on The Athletic’s NFL Show. “I’m a huge Josh Simmons fan… Purely looking at the film this year, he had the best tackle film in the class.”
Simmons, of course, didn’t play the full 2024 season at Ohio State. He tore his patellar tendon midway through the Buckeyes’ week six game against Oregon and missed the rest of the season. His rehab process is reportedly going well, and some reports suggest he could be ready for the start of this season.
“I would [rank] him ahead of (Will) Campbell and (Armand) Membou because this is a true left tackle,” former NFL head coach and offensive line guru Mike Tice said on the Yahoo Sports Football 301 podcast earlier this month. “There’s not a whole heck of a lot I wrote [in my notes] that I don’t like about (Simmons). He’s athletic. He’s smooth in space. He can run. This guy can help you win football games, and this guy can help the quarterback set his feet and step up into the pocket to make throws when he has to hang onto the ball a little longer.”
The reward of potentially drafting a franchise left tackle in the late first round doesn’t come without risk. There is no guarantee Simmons is the same player post-injury that he was pre-injury. But that reward is more than worth the risk. The Chiefs have been wandering through the wilderness in recent seasons, searching for an answer at one of the five most important positions in the sport. The old adage, “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” certainly applies here.
The Chiefs did more than just find a potential answer at left tackle in this year’s draft, though. They also fortified the defensive line, added depth to the cornerback room, added extra size and speed to the receiver room and added a potential pass-catching weapon at running back.
Let’s begin with the team’s second-round pick, former Tennessee defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott. This is the most difficult prospect to explain in the Chiefs’ class. Let’s start with this – he was fourth among Tennessee’s defensive tackles in snaps last season. That’s tough to explain. He was effectively a designated interior pass rusher and – to his credit – he was highly effective in his (limited) snaps. It’s not every day you see a top 75 pick play just 225 snaps for their college team. It begs the question – why wasn’t he trusted to play more often?
Norman-Lott’s measurables paint the picture of an undersized defensive tackle with mediocre long speed and a disappointing 10-yard split, but he has freakish length for his height, and his jumps at the combine were elite. The Chiefs are betting that his pass rush win rate will translate to the next level, and the hope is that he can replace some of what the team is losing with Tershawn Wharton. Time will tell if the risk is worth the reward on this pick.
I’ll be quick and say I loved the selections of Louisville defensive end Ashton Gillotte, Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals and Oregon linebacker Jeffrey Bassa. All three add some juice to their respective positions, all of which lacked the necessary depth a year ago.
The Chiefs’ other third-round pick beyond Gillotte was Cal cornerback Nohl Williams.
Williams is tall, physical and intelligent – otherwise known as central casting for a “Spags corner.” This was a necessary addition with Jaylen Watson’s looming free agency. It should also provide the necessary injury insurance at the outside corner, which prevents Trent McDuffie from having to move out of the slot the way he was forced to a year ago.
The final selection I want to spend some time on is former SMU running back Brashard Smith. The most common complaint about the Chiefs’ draft was their lack of investment at the running back position. I get why fans are frustrated. This team’s running back room severely lacked explosive ability last season, but much of that was related to Isiah Pacheco’s injury status.
This is also a team that, other than Clyde Edwards-Helaire, simply hasn’t invested much in running backs. The team’s leading rushers under Andy Reid over the past decade have been Charcandrick West (Undrafted), Spencer Ware (FA), Kareem Hunt (3rd round pick), Damien Williams (FA), Darrel Williams (UDFA) Edwards-Helaire (1st round pick) and Pacheco (7th round pick). Those are the running backs that led the Chiefs to the best decade of football in the history of the organization. It’s no wonder they believe they can get away with limited investment at the position, especially after the Edwards-Helaire selection aged as poorly as it did.
As for Smith, he’s a converted wide receiver with 18 carries in his college career before last season at SMU. He does, however, have 108 career receptions. This is a classic Reid running back, someone who can come in right away and contribute in the passing game. He might not be a fully formed back, but he possesses the exact skill set that complements what the Chiefs already have on the roster in Pacheco, Hunt, Elijah Mitchell and Carson Steele.
The Chiefs accomplished the primary goals they set out to achieve heading into this year’s draft. Kansas City added depth to the positions that desperately needed it, the Chiefs took a high-risk gamble on a potential difference maker along the interior defensive line, and most importantly, they added a player that could be their long-term answer at left tackle.
Ultimately, that’s how this class will be remembered. If Simmons is as good as some of the most trusted draft analysts suggest, it will be a home run class. If the injury is too much to overcome, well, it will still be remembered as a risk that was worth taking.
