Chiefs’ Rookie Josh Simmons To Start At LT If Healthy?

The Chiefs traded back a spot and utilized the final pick of the first round on Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons. Simmons started his collegiate career at San Diego State, starting every game of his redshirt freshman season at right tackle before transferring to Columbus. He immediately stepped in as the Buckeyes starting left tackle in 2023, and even though he missed 10 games last year, he still earned All-Big Ten honorable mention.

Part of the reason Simmons is not expected to start in Week 1 is because of what caused him to miss 10 games last year. Projected to be in contention for the honor of top lineman in the draft, Simmons draft stock took a hit when he suffered a ruptured patellar tendon only six games into the season. Apart from how challenging it can be for a rookie to adjust to the NFL game, Breer notes that that kind of knee injury can be harder for big men to come back from than a torn ACL.

Add in the fact that the Chief’s biggest free agent signing this offseason was former 49ers backup offensive tackle Jaylon Moore, and the team’s plans start to become clear. Moore came to Kansas City on a two-year, $30MM deal after four years in San Francisco, where he served as a swing tackle who started games in place of Trent Williams and others. Over the course of his rookie contract, Moore played in 55 games but started only 12 of them.

The beauty of signing Moore to a two-year deal is that it will likely serve two purposes. In 2025, Moore is expected to man the starting left tackle spot across from Jawaan Taylor. This will allow Simmons to take his time to recover to full health and catch up to the speed of the NFL game with no pressure. The second purpose was hinted at over a month ago, when head coach Andy Reid expressed the team’s view that Moore could play multiple positions on the offensive line. Considering he’s never played at snap at guard in the NFL, the presumption, then, is that Reid means he can play both left and right tackle.

After the 2025 season, Taylor’s contract contains a potential out that reduces his dead cap money from $34.78MM if cut in 2025 to $7.39MM if cut in the next league year. One could imagine, Breer posits, that Kansas City would be able to free up $20MM of cap space, move Moore from left to right tackle, and let Simmons take over at left tackle in 2026.

So, sure, Simmons isn’t expected to start Week 1 in 2025, but that also doesn’t exactly mean that he’ll be redshirting his rookie year. Once he’s fully healthy, the Chiefs will likely try to work Simmons into the line somehow. Maybe they’ll start him out on the interior, or they could shift Moore inside, if Reid really meant what he said about multiple positions, and allow Simmons to get accustomed to the starting spot on the blind side. Either way, the plan for Simmons is likely focused much further out than Week 1 of the upcoming season.