Sіx burnіng queѕtіonѕ the Kanѕaѕ Cіty Chіefѕ wіll begіn to anѕwer іn OTAѕ aѕ the team buіldѕ a ѕtrong foundatіon for 2025. 🔗⬇️

This is where the fun begins.

The Kansas City Chiefs are back in action this week as they begin their Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and kick off Phase III of the offseason workout program. Practice sessions remain voluntary but are highly encouraged after the team allows the earliest portions of the program to take place virtually.

OTAs include on-field workouts with individual and group components, including walkthroughs, but no live contact is permitted during these particular workouts. Team drills of the 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 variety are allowed during OTAs, but no pads, except protective knee pads, elbow pads, and helmets, are permitted.

Chiefs’ offseason schedule

Organized Team Activities Group 1: May 27-29
Organized Team Activities Group 2: June 2-4
Organized Team Activities Group 3: June 10-13
Mandatory Minicamp: June 17-19

This is where the Chiefs’ foundation for the upcoming NFL season begins to take shape. Every practice matters for Kansas City in terms of finding the right 53 players for the 2025 NFL season, who are ready to execute and help the team reach its ultimate goal of winning Super Bowl LX. With that in mind, here are six of the questions they’ll seek to begin answering when practices kick off on Tuesday.

Who will be the Chiefs’ starting left tackle in 2025?

This is the Chiefs’ most significant offseason question, and the answer has recently been debated. On one hand, the team signed former 49ers LT Jaylon Moore to a two-year deal worth $15M APY. On the other hand, the Chiefs drafted Ohio State LT Josh Simmons in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft. Who will win the starting job in Kansas City?

I tend to believe that Josh Simmons should be considered the favorite. How much he can participate during OTAs after suffering a knee injury with the Buckeyes last October will tell just how realistic that is. Andy Reid indicated he should be good to go by training camp, but he reportedly impressed the team with all he could do in rookie minicamp.

If Simmons is healthy, he should get in there and play, given that he could be the long-term solution they’re looking for, and having a trusted backup in Moore isn’t bad. The Chiefs started four players at left tackle just last season due to injuries and other struggles.

Another question that needs answering here is whether any other players impress at the tackle position. The team has invested in players like Ethan Driskell and Chu Godrick, but they also brought in some UDFAs with left tackle experience in Esa Pole and Dalton Cooper.

Kingsley Suamataia at left guard and other interior offensive line development in Year 2

The left guard position went from one of the sturdiest spots on the roster to a major question mark this offseason with the Chiefs’ decision to trade Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears. The plan, as confirmed by Andy Reid, is for former second-round draft pick Kingsley Suamataia and Mike Caliendo to compete for the starting job at the left guard position. Who will get the nod with the starting lineup as OTAs begin? That remains to be seen.

Another question concerns other players developing on the interior offensive line. The Chiefs had two other interior offensive line picks in the 2024 NFL draft, Hunter Nourzad and C.J. Hansen. Neither contributed much in Year 1 outside of the Week 18 game against the Denver Broncos. Will either of those players be able to take a step forward in their development in Year 2 to compete at the left guard position or other positions across the offensive line? After his rookie campaign, Nourzad seems poised for a key depth role, but Hansen was much more raw in the 2024 NFL season. He could be fighting for a roster spot after taking what was virtually a redshirt year coming out of Holy Cross.

Will Rashee Rice, Jared Wiley, and others be healthy to start the year?

The Chiefs had several players finish the 2024 NFL season on injured reserve.

The most notable of those players is WR Rashee Rice, who appears to be on track to begin the 2025 NFL season healthy after suffering a friendly-fire LCL injury that knocked him out for the entire 2024 season in Week 4. Patrick Mahomes hinted that Rice looked good during earlier phases of offseason workouts in Texas, but will he be fully cleared for participation in OTAs? That remains to be seen.

Jared Wiley is another player who finished the season on IR after suffering a season-ending ACL injury during practice. Andy Reid spoke about the status of Wiley and Rice ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.

“Yeah, I can’t necessarily give you the (timeline),” Reid said. “They’re doing well, that’s taking place right now, but I can’t tell you when they’ll be back exactly here, but both of them bust their tail. They’re running, which is good, and we’ll just see how it goes going forward here. We don’t have them here on the field right now with us, so we gotta see the football part of it as we go.”

LB Jack Cochrane also finished the season on injured reserve with an ankle fracture. The same goes for WR Skyy Moore, who suffered a core muscle injury in October. Both players are expected to be ready to go by the beginning of the 2025 NFL season, but their participation in OTAs remains a big question mark.

The most prominent Kansas City Chiefs position battle no one is talking about

For the second consecutive season, the Chiefs have an offseason punter battle. Last year, it was BYU P Ryan Rehkow vs. Matt Araiza; this year, it’s USC P Eddie Czaplicki vs. Matt Araiza. Will Araiza be able to come out on top again, or will he fall to the 2024 Ray Guy Award winner?

Dave Toub’s decision to bring in more competition for Araiza tells us that No. 14 didn’t do enough in Year 1 to earn the undisputed starter role. He’s still being given competition that will either push him to improve on his inadequacies from a season ago or falter.

Araiza needs to improve his control and touch. He has a powerful leg, but his accuracy rarely puts teams in a bad position. Czaplicki must prove he’s the complete package to earn a long-term role in Kansas City. That includes holding for K Harrison Butker, which Araiza did exceptionally well in his first season as a professional.

How does the interior defensive line rotation shape up for 2025?

The Chiefs lost two interior defensive linemen to free agency during the 2025 NFL offseason. Derrick Nnadi signed with the New York Jets, and Tershawn Wharton signed with the Carolina Panthers. While the team brought in a natural replacement for Wharton in the 2025 NFL draft (Omarr Norman-Lott), they still lack an obvious replacement for Nnadi, who played just over 20% of the team’s defensive snaps in 2024 and 45% of the team’s defensive snaps in 2023.

Jerry Tillery is a name to watch here, given his former first-round draft pick status. There are also players like Fabien Lovett and Siaki Ika, who could take a step forward in Year 2 in Kansas City. Another name to watch is undrafted free agent DT Coziah Izzard. Those players will have opportunities to prove they can stop the run in a rotational role behind a veteran player like Mike Pennel.

The AFC West added some serious firepower at the RB position this offseason with the Los Angeles Chargers adding UNC RB Omarion Hampton, the Las Vegas Raiders adding Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty, and the Denver Broncos adding UCF RB RJ Harvey. Stopping the run effectively will be vital to the Chiefs’ success in 2025.

Will the offense finally take a step forward in Year 3 under Matt Nagy?

Since Patrick Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback in 2018, the Chiefs have been known for one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. The past two seasons, however, have been a bit of an aberration. The Chiefs fell to ninth in total offense in 2023 after leading the league during the 2022 NFL season. Last year, they fell to 17th in total offense.

Andy Reid and Matt Nagy share the blame, and they still managed to win a Super Bowl in 2023 and reach the Super Bowl in 2024. Yet, you simply can’t have an offense consistently underperforming and going in the wrong direction when you have a quarterback as talented as Mahomes. It’s the third season under Nagy, and if the offense doesn’t start trending upward after the additions made this offseason, it’ll be time to ask some hard questions that the team once had to ask on the opposite side of the ball back in 2018.

OTAs are about preparing and building for training camp, where the team will lay the strongest part of its foundation for the 2025 NFL season. The chemistry built in the passing game now could be the difference between another lackluster campaign and a resurgent offensive performance in Kansas City.

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