NFL Mock Draft: Simmons Too Good To Pass Up on for Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs have made significant changes along their offensive line to remedy their embarrassing loss against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. Most notably, they retained Trey Smith on a franchise tag and signed Jaylon Moore out of free agency from the San Francisco 49ers.

Keeping Smith from hitting free agency was the right move for the Chiefs, but it has to be their priority to sign him to a long-term deal. Even if they do, offensive linemen should be their biggest priority heading into the upcoming NFL draft less than a month away.

Derrick Harmon is the player most associated with them according to plenty of mock drafts. Admittedly, they should draft the best player available at the 31st overall pick, but they should worry about the defensive line later in the draft.

They still have a dominant defensive presence in the trenches with Chris Jones, and he has help from George Karlaftis as well. As good as Smith is, he can't protect Patrick Mahomes all by himself. The Chiefs have very few moves they can do in free agency, which means the draft is where they have to add more depth along the offensive line.

Kyle Dvorchak is a sports writer for NBC Sports and in his mock draft, he predicts they add an offensive lineman with the potential to be a cornerstone piece of their offense, Josh Simmons. Due to an injury, Simmons will most likely slide down draft boards but the Chiefs take a chance on his potential.

"It’s going to take a lot for me not to mock a tackle to the Chiefs with this pick. Their offensive line fell apart at the end of 2024, resulting in a career-high in sacks for Patrick Mahomes in a single game, that being six in the Super Bowl.

Simmons would compete with free agent addition Jaylon Moore for the starting left tackle spot during the summer. The Chiefs could also pencil in Moore as the starter and draft a guard to replace Joe Thuney", said Dvorchak.

This isn't the first time Simmons has been linked to the Chiefs. He should be the player they draft in the first round if he's available. He could be a backup or their starter, either way, they'll be taking a shot at whether he can develop in the NFL and even if he doesn't work out the way they would've hoped, it needs to be a risk they have to take if they want to continue to be dominant in the NFL.

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