Although there a reasons to be concerned about Chiefs’ 2025 first-round draft pick offensive tackle Josh Simmons, there are also plenty of reasons to be excited.

Coming off a torn patella tendon and alleged character concerns highlight the doubt surrounding Simmons. However, his talent has never been questioned, as some feel as though he could have been a top 10 pick if not for the injury.

As far as on the field ability goes, Simmons is an excellent athlete with an impressive 6-foot-5, 317 pound body frame. As far as how that will translate to NFL playing standards, coach Andy Reid pointed out that Simmons has already proved he can handle stepping up his game against higher competition.

“I think the thing you saw when he moved from San Diego State to Ohio State, was that’s a little bit more of a pro-style (offense) at Ohio State with the verbiage and all that,” Reid said about Simmon’s transfer from San Diego State to Ohio State in 2023. “And you saw where he got better with all of that as time went on. And so we were able to get in and kind of introduce him to our offense and see if he can handle that going forward. And it was very similar to some of the things that Ohio State (was doing), we’re doing. It looked pretty good, and I think that’s a big jump.”

Reid went on to say that not only did Simmons handle the switch from the Mountain West Conference at San Diego State to the Big Ten at Ohio State well, but actually got better while playing against tougher competition.

“Bigger school, more pressure, gets better competition,” Reid said. “There are a couple things there when you look at that, the fact that he actually made that transfer, and that’s a that’s a tough decision he had to make. There’s got to be a little trust in your ability. You go from San Diego State to Ohio State, he starts for two years, and then he gets hurt. But, that tells you that he’s got ability and skill.”

If Simmons makes a full, clean recovery from his injury and is locked in on football, Kansas City may have gotten itself a first-round steal. Good offensive tackles are very tough to find outside of the top 10 picks of the draft, so taking a flyer on Simmons was almost a must. Time will tell if it pays off, but at least the Chiefs are giving it a shot.