The rest of the NFL might have made the worst possible mistake in the 2025 NFL Draft and that was allowing the Kansas City Chiefs to select Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons with their first-round pick. The Chiefs had been struggling to find a left tackle after Orlando Brown Jr. bolted for Cincinnati two years ago and now they might have their guy who can protect Patrick Mahomes’ blindside.
Initially, it seemed as though Simmons, who was injured in October during the 2024 season with the Buckeyes, wouldn’t be the starter at left tackle due to the injury and the acquisition of Jaylon Moore. Now that Jawaan Taylor is injured for the beginning of training camp, however, Moore is playing right tackle and Simmons is getting a chance to show what he can do at left tackle.
Others are seeing this play out clear as day. Former Chiefs and NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz tweeted that the Chiefs got a steal in Simmons, something that is starting to become common knowledge.
“The Chiefs got a steal with Simmons. He was considered OT1 before he got hurt. Now he’s LT1 in camp while Taylor is out. If he plays well enough the Chiefs will just stick with him,” Schwartz tweeted on Wednesday morning.
The Josh Simmons hype train continues to roll on for the Chiefs
Schwartz isn’t the only one singing Simmons’ praises already. ESPN draft and college football analyst Jordan Reid joined in as well with similar sentiments that Schwartz had.
“If fully healthy, there were some scouts that thought he would’ve been the first tackle off of the board. Would be a massive development for the Chiefs,” Reid tweeted on Tuesday morning.
Chiefs fans are already aware of former Eagles center Jason Kelce’s love for Simmons, as he’s constantly been praising the Ohio State product on his New Heights podcast. Kelce went so far as even comparing Simmons to 49ers left tackle Trent Williams, who’s considered the best left tackle in the league right now.
Chiefs fans have to be loving all of this praise for the team’s first-round pick because it’s been pretty rough at left tackle in recent years. Joe Thuney did the best he could at the position in the backhalf of the 2024 season but that led to the left guard position taking a hit and now Thuney isn’t even on the roster anymore.
It’d be great if Simmons did indeed turn out to be as great as these people are saying because if he lives up to the hype, the Kansas City Chiefs have their franchise left tackle for potentially the rest of Patrick Mahomes’ career. That is a very scary thought for the other 31 teams in the league.