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The Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 director of player personnel and college scouting Ryne Nutt joined media members via Zoom on Monday to wrap up the NFL Draft. Over the course of draft weekend, the club selected seven new players (who you can read about here) \u2014 none more important to the franchise than their first-round pick: Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons.<\/p>\n
Nutt opened by echoing the words of general manager Brett Veach \u2014 and aligning with the many national draft analysts who graded the Chiefs\u2019 class favorably.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to say Josh is one of the better tackles in this draft class,\u201d said Nutt. \u201cYou could make your case for the best, but he\u2019s definitely in the top three in this draft class in terms of what he provides. The only difference maybe between him and some of the other guys is he started two years \u2014 and some of these other guys, like the LSU kid (Will Campbell), I think started more, and you can say experience and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Due to the torn patellar injury in his left knee, Simmons only played six games for Ohio State in 2024, but Nutt explained that those performances would be among the best for any year\u2019s draft class.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he was healthy \u2014 this year, this tape \u2014 would be one of the better ones in the last few years,\u201d said Nutt. \u201cHe kind of reminds me of Christian Darrisaw, who\u2019s done really well for the Vikings. He\u2019s got a little bit of [Rashawn] Slater in him, who plays for the Chargers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much has been made about head coach Andy Reid\u2019s preference for an arm length of at least 34 inches in his tackles, and Nutt revealed that Simmons reached that measurable threshold when he visited the facility (he had measured 33 inches at the Scouting Combine).<\/p>\n
Prior to the draft, there were several reports that raised concerns about Simmons\u2019 maturity \u2014 but Nutt quickly refuted them, citing Kansas City\u2019s extensive homework.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did a ton of work on this kid,\u201d described Nutt. \u201cWe had people call San Diego State (where Simmons played from 2021-22). I went into Ohio State along with two other scouts \u2014 and you talk to the coaches, the strength coach, you talk to the academics. We Zoomed the kid twice. We brought him in, so we\u2019ve done so much work on this kid. We felt good with the character.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, was there some immaturity \u2014 maybe in 2023? It\u2019s really, \u2018Are you seeing this kid grow?\u2019 When you go from San Diego State \u2014 where you\u2019re the big fish \u2014 to Ohio State, now you\u2019re like a small fish in a big pond. It\u2019s different because you\u2019re still programmed to act like you did at San Diego State.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when he got to Ohio State, his first year, everything was so new. I don\u2019t think it was necessarily a case of him being immature. I think it was just him trying to adjust \u2014 this is a West Coast kid going to the Midwest in a different area [with a] different coaching staff [and] different demands.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nutt explained that Ohio State is run like an NFL program \u2014 an environment Simmons eventually grew to thrive in. The general consensus remains that had it not been for his injury, he would not have been available for Kansas City at No. 32 overall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the only way we would have gotten him, because that kid, he was a top-20 pick,\u201d said Nutt. \u201cIt stinks for the kid, it hurt him on his wallet and money, but things happen for a reason \u2014 and it\u2019s kind of not where you start. It\u2019s where you finish.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Ohio State product continues to garner rave reviews.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":57257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n