The top two priorities for NFL franchises in the past few decades have not changed.
No. 1: Get a franchise quarterback.
No. 2: Protect said franchise quarterback.
The Kansas City Chiefs have No. 1 more than covered. Patrick Mahomes has been the best quarterback in the NFL since roughly 2018, his second year in the league. He’s led Kansas City to three Super Bowl wins, collecting two MVPs and six Pro Bowls along the way. Through eight seasons, he’s posted an NFL-record 288.9 passing yards per game.
Area No. 2 is where the Chiefs fell short in 2024, at least by the standards of their organization. They were 18th in the NFL in sacks allowed per game (2.6), which culminated in a six-sack domination of their front by the Philadelphia Eagles in a 40-22 Super Bowl loss for Kansas City. Philadelphia didn’t blitz a single time in that game.
That’s why the Chiefs’ objective entering the first round of the 2025 NFL draft on April 24 was finding a franchise left tackle to protect Mahomes’ blindside. And the man they hand-picked with the No. 32 overall selection, the last of the first round, was former Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons.
“He would’ve been a top five or 10 pick (if not for his injury),” Kansas City coach Andy Reid said. “It’s a position that we could use some good players at. Just an addition of good players, and in particular at the left tackle spot if and when he can jump in there and do that. And he’s flexible where he can play any spot, but we felt like he was a true left tackle there.”
The injury Reid referenced was a torn patellar tendon suffered by Simmons in Ohio State’s sixth game of the 2024 season, a 32-31 loss to Oregon. For the first half of the season, he was one of the nation’s elite offensive tackles and a candidate to be the first OT taken in the 2025 NFL draft.
In his second year at Ohio State after transferring in from San Diego State, Simmons graded the highest among the Buckeyes’ offensive linemen at 74.5 on Pro Football Focus. That included a pass-blocking grade of 82, also the highest among Ohio State’s OL. In 158 pass-blocking snaps, he allowed just one pressure and no sacks.
Simmons earned AP midseason All-American honors, but had no time to relish in his accolades after suffering his knee injury.
“For something like this, you want to jump on it like ASAP,” Simmons said after his selection in the NFL draft. “I just went straight to my surgeon after we knew what it was and the type of attention he was going to need. So, something like that, like, what you're attacking is like, it's a lot of eccentric work. Getting that joint stiffness, getting that range of motion. That all has to be attacked really, really early. That way, you can kind of just have a downhill snowball effect of getting your explosiveness back.”
The Chiefs emerged as a potential landing spot early in Simmons’ draft process, even though he couldn’t go through the NFL Scouting Combine or Ohio State’s pro day drills while still rehabbing his knee, although he did perform the bench press at pro day and tied the 2025 Scouting Combine high-water mark of 33 reps. He was one of 30 prospects invited for a visit by Kansas City, and while there, the candor of his conversation with offensive line coach Andy Heck struck him.
“There was a lot of other conversations that were a lot more informal, just kind of more laughy and kind of funny, joking around,” Simmons said. “But with Coach Heck, we were talking about ball and the type of guys that he has in that room and the guys that he wants to bring in the room. The Kansas City Chiefs just don't let anybody in that building. So there's a different expectation when you get drafted by them.”
Simmons’ superhuman athleticism has been well-attested to since he arrived at Ohio State. He flashed his upside in the first half of 2024. But with limited peak performances and coming off a major injury, his chances of being a top-10 pick in the draft were slim to none.
The Chiefs anxiously awaited to see how far he’d fall on draft day. All along, they planned to take him with their first-round pick. Four other offensive tackles came off the board before Simmons, the last being former Oregon left tackle Josh Conerly Jr., who the Washington Commanders selected No. 29 overall. Kansas City traded back one spot to pick up a fifth-round pick from Philadelphia, then pulled the trigger.
“I figured there might be a chance coming off an injury, but as you guys get to know a little bit in the time that you have to study and talk to other people about him, you’re gonna find out he’s really a super athlete,” Reid said. “That’s where we were a little bit nervous whether he’d be there or not be there.”
Count Jason Kelce, famed former Eagles center and brother of star Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, among those who feel Kansas City got a steal snaring Simmons so late in the draft. He called him one of the “biggest steals” of the draft, in fact.
Jason Kelce glowingly praises #Chiefs first round draft pick Josh Simmons.
— Starcade Media (@StarcadeMediaKC) April 30, 2025
-@newheightshow pic.twitter.com/6UrSHs6yAt
Mahomes was following along, too, and tweeted out a sunglasses emoji after the pick was announced.
“Patrick doesn’t miss anything. He loves the draft,” Reid said. “He puts his own draft board together, I think, and spends time. He enjoys doing that. He knew about this kid, and obviously, as many good linemen as you can bring in, he’ll be happy with that. That’s how he is.”
Simmons’ single pressure allowed across six games of action in 2024 was something that appealed to Reid. Kansas City also signed an offensive tackle in free agency, Jaylon Moore, though he’s been a backup much of his career. Jawaan Taylor has started at right tackle the past two seasons but has been somewhat disappointing. The left tackle job is there for Simmons to take, after he gets healthy.
“I think he’s good in the run and the pass game. But, obviously, you’re looking for guys that can anchor down in the pass game,” Reid said of Simmons. “That becomes important, especially on the left side with a right-handed quarterback. And we have such good players that we go against that play that defensive end spot that I think it’s important that you find a guy that can do that.”
Reid said the Chiefs aren’t going to rush Simmons back during their rookie minicamp, which runs from Saturday through Monday, but expect him to be able to get some work in before training camp, which he will be full-go for if all goes according to plan.
While he’s now achieved the dream of being drafted, Simmons knows his work is only just beginning now that he’s playing for one of the NFL’s top teams.
“I wouldn't say it's more relief. I mean, I still have to kind of haul ass in recovery,” Simmons said. “And again, like I said, I'm at the Kansas City Chiefs, so there is no time to, like, take breaths. If anything, it's kind of where you've got to start flooring it as much as you ever had. So, I mean, I'll take a couple days to just kind of take in that process and get that behind me. But then right after that you're going into a really, really, really good football club.”
