Kansas City Chiefs OL Kingsley Suamataia could be due for an unfortunate case of Déjà vu to start the 2025 NFL season.
As a rookie in 2024, Suamataia earned the starting left tackle job out of the gate. In Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens, he had an average start for a rookie. He allowed a pressure rate of just 3.2 percent, and it looked like the team had maybe found a solution at the left tackle position. What it did was provide a false sense of hope.
The following week, he'd face off with Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson, who led the league in sacks in 2024. Hendrickson put Suamataia in a torture chamber for four quarters of football. Suamataia allowed two sacks and four total pressures and was penalized twice. The poor performance led to Suamataia being benched in the fourth quarter for Wanya Morris, and he didn't start in Week 3. In Week 10, Suamataia was forced into action at left tackle against and allowed one sack with seven total pressures.
By the end of the season, the Chiefs had pivoted their plan with Suamataia. He was no longer viewed as a long-term solution at left tackle, but a potential solution at guard. In Week 18, he started at the left guard position and had a promising performance against the Denver Broncos, as one of the lone bright spots of that game. That performance has influenced the plan with the 22-year-old for the 2025 NFL season, but thanks to the NFL's schedule, he could face similar challenges right out of the gate despite playing a new position.
Chiefs' schedule sets Kingsley Suamataia up for a challenging start to 2025
Chiefs HC Andy Reid confirmed earlier this offseason that the plan for the 2025 NFL season is for Kingsley Suamataia to compete with veteran Mike Caliendo for the starting left guard position. As a former second-round draft pick, Suamataia will be given every chance to earn that job and succeed. Holding the job down might be just as tricky for the former BYU Cougar as it was holding the left tackle job down a season ago.
If Suamataia earns the starting job, he will face a challenging early-season schedule like last season. It'll start in Week 1 with a Los Angeles Chargers team that may not be quite as challenging on the defensive interior, which could provide a false sense of confidence. Guys like Teair Tartt and Otito Ogbonnia only combined for one sack last season. The wild cards here are rookie DT Jamaree Caldwell and free agent DT Naquon Jones.
Things could start to get tough for Suamataia during Week 2 and Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season. In Week 2, he will square off against an interior defensive line that caused this Chiefs team sheer misery in February. While they no longer have Milton Williams, the Eagles have a trio of game-wreckers in Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Moro Ojomo. Those three combined created 129 pressures and 11 sacks during the 2024 NFL season and postseason.
In Week 3, things get even worse for Suamataia. He'll face off with Dexter Lawrence, who tied for the third-most sacks in the NFL among interior defensive linemen in 2024 (10). They've also got newcomer Roy Robertson-Harris and former Chiefs DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches in the rotation.
Every week in the NFL is a challenge, but it feels like another trial-by-fire situation waiting to happen for Suamataia. Don't forget that he could start next to a first-time starter in Jaylen Moore or a rookie in Josh Simmons. A lot still has to happen for Suamataia to earn the starting job, and there could still be injuries and changes with opponents along the way. Should he earn the opportunity to start, to avoid that Déjà vu, he'll have to stay diligent in his week-to-week preparation and film study.
