Arrowhead Pride
Kansas City’s rookie left tackle faced a true test against one of the league’s best defensive linemen.
On Saturday morning, the Kansas City Chiefs conducted their tenth training camp practice in front of a packed house in St. Joseph, Missouri.
The day’s most intriguing matchup — perhaps the most intriguing through the entire camp — was between rookie left tackle Josh Simmons and Kansas City’s superstar defensive tackle Chris Jones.
Starting at left tackle in every camp practice so far, Simmons has looked the part against the Chiefs’ veteran-heavy defensive line, which includes George Karlaftis, Mike Danna and Charles Omenihu — but until Sunday, he hadn’t gone up against Jones.
The first rep between them was a 1-on-1 situation in Saturday’s first 11-on-11 period. The Chiefs were focusing on third downs.
Lined up across from Simmons, Jones fired out of his stance. Simmons met him on the arc, holding him out of the backfield. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes quickly released the ball — and that was that. This was not a difficult play for Simmons, because with the quick release, Jones didn't have the time to work a true pass rush move against the rookie.
The pair met again in a 1-on-1 pass-rushing drill, which gives a distinct advantage to the defensive player. This creates a valuable learning tool for the offensive line. So far in camp, Jones has mostly lined up along the inside of the offensive player — but this time, he lined up outside.
As we see here, Simmons gets off the ball quickly, trying to jump-set Jones. Bringing a power rush, Jones fires his hands, landing them inside. He starts to sink in order to gain leverage — but Simmons instinctively pops his hip and anchors down to stop Jones’ move. After fighting to reset his hands, Simmons tries to finish the play, but Jones finishes the rep with a vicious shove.
While Jones won this rep by showing the rookie a taste of true NFL power, Simmons was still very impressive, showing the ability to recover and anchor down — something that many tackles with years of experience cannot do.
A former Chiefs All-Pro weighed in on the snap.
The rep showed why Jones is the best in the game: he was setting up a move for later in the practice.
In the final full team period, the two players met again. This time, Simmons got the better of the All-Pro.
On this play, Jones attempts to set up Simmons with a bull rush similar to the one he used in the drill. He is trying to transition to a swim move to catch the rookie off guard.
But Simmons had a different idea. He quickly gets his hands on Jones. When the veteran attempts to go back inside, Simmons out-leverages him, quickly moving his feet to shut down the rush — and allowing Mahomes enough time to get the ball off.
It was an impressive look, demonstrating exactly the kind of block...
