Arrowhead Pride
After Kansas City’s seventh training camp practice, Andy Reid and Kingsley Suamataia spoke to the media
Coming into training camp, priority No. 1 for the Kansas City Chiefs was establishing an offensive line they felt good about.
To do so, they made key moves in the offseason, bringing in former San Francisco 49ers left tackle Jaylon Moore and then selecting Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons with the No. 32 overall pick in the NFL Draft. One week into camp, general manager Brett Veach’s vision is quickly coming into focus.
Many wondered if Simmons’ October injury would sideline him for the beginning of camp, but that was not the case. In actuality, Jawaan Taylor missed the first four practices on the physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list due to knee cleanup surgery. While Taylor was out, Simmons took all the reps at left tackle, while Moore took all the reps at right tackle.
Taylor returned for the first padded practice on Sunday, rotating with Moore at right tackle through Monday. On Tuesday, Moore shifted inside to split left guard snaps with Kingsley Suamataia.
“He’s working all three of those spots — and really, both guards,” said head coach Andy Reid of Moore on Tuesday after the workout. “He can do either-or. We’re just working him in. We need everybody.”
In Week 18 of 2024, with the Chiefs’ first-round bye locked up, Reid started Suamataia at left guard against the Denver Broncos. The head coach liked the tape enough to shift the second-year player there for 2025, hoping for a resurgence and a sure left guard still on a rookie contract.
“He’s done a nice job,” said Reid. “[He’s] really battled in there, looks solid, really like what we see.”
So far, Suamataia has said he feels comfortable working as a left guard at St. Joseph.
“It’s going good,” said the 22-year-old on Tuesday. “Taking that work, coming in at guard, things are a lot faster, so just taking my mind from out here to in here and working it from in there — and getting to work with Trey [Smith] and the inside guys, so it’s been good.”
Ahead of camp, the Chiefs made Smith the NFL’s highest-paid guard, which speaks volumes about the respect he commands from a younger player like Suamataia.
“I’m behind him: ‘Hey Trey, hey Trey, hey Trey!’” said Suamataia, smiling. “I’m over there in his ear every day, every second just trying to get myself better at my craft so I can help this team.”
Though he may not want to dissect any battle publicly, Reid knows that the competition drives excellence. Last year’s “bad problem” — too few answers at offensive line — has morphed into a “good problem” this summer.
The Chiefs have three capable players (Moore, Suamataia and Taylor) for two positions (left guard and right tackle).
“We love to compete across the board, whether I’m at right guard, left tackle or back at left guard,” said Suamataia. “We’re all just out here trying to...
