Arrowhead Pride
How well can Kansas City’s two offseason acquistions hold down the left side of the offensive line?
For the third straight year, I’m considering the 10 biggest questions I have for the Kansas City Chiefs for 2025.
Is there a bigger question for this season’s team than what will happen at left tackle?
Ever since the Chiefs decided to let Orlando Brown Jr. move on after 2022, the position has been a revolving door. Over the two seasons since Brown left, none of the players who walked through it were able to claim the position as their own.
After a brutal Super Bowl loss that will be remembered for left guard Joe Thuney moving to the outside (while Mike Caliendo took his place at guard), the team took two big swings to fill the vacancy, signing former San Francisco 49ers’ reserve tackle Jaylon Moore to a two-year deal worth $30 million — and then selecting left tackle Josh Simmons out of Ohio State with the 32nd pick of April’s NFL Draft.
I think the Chiefs did about as well as they could have. In free agency, the options at left tackle weren’t good. I doubt that the Houston Texans’ Laremy Tunsil could ever have been traded to Kansas City. Signing Jaylon Moore (whose contract guaranteed him $21.2 million) was a much better option than getting former Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Dan Moore Jr., who inked a four-year contract worth $82 million (including $50 million guaranteed) with the Tennessee Titans. While Dan Moore is a better player, he’s not that much better.
Then in the draft, things couldn’t have gone better for the Chiefs. Before his injury last October, Simmons had outstanding tape. I almost had a top-10 grade on him, but because of the limited sample size (and the level of competition he faced), I held off. Still, getting him at the end of the first round was a huge break for Kansas City.
I considered asking whether the Chiefs have solved their left tackle dilemma. Instead, I decided on a different approach: What are the ceilings of these two moves? What are their floors?
Let’s take a look.
It’s hard to see a wide range in what Moore’s play could be. Now 27 years old, he’s been a swing tackle his entire career. In limited snaps, his play has been fine — but it’s been nothing to write home about.
Here’s what’s worse: a swing tackle tends to train on both sides. After Mike McGlinchey moved on to the Denver Broncos in 2023, Moore (who had collected five starts over two seasons by then) should have been able to take over at right tackle. He didn’t — and that concerns me.
Just the same, there’s a chance the Chiefs saw something in Moore’s tape that they liked. Potentially — in a different system with offensive line coach Andy Heck coaching him — there’s a chance he can prove to be a capable starting left tackle.
So I...
