Do the Chiefs Actually Have a Right Tackle Battle Between Jaylon Moore and Esa Pole?

When training camp begins, some Kansas City Chiefs players will show up to Missouri Western State University with plans to fight for a starting job. Others are just trying to make the initial 53-man roster. But there's one much-discussed "camp battle" that is simpler than many fans and pundits are making it out to be.

To understand the current state of the Chiefs' right tackle position, we have to revisit the two-year plan they put in place last offseason. The Chiefs signed former San Francisco 49ers tackle Jaylon Moore to a two-year, $30 million contract that, at the time, made him the likely starting left tackle for the 2025 season, with Jawaan Taylor starting at right tackle.

By the time the Chiefs were on the clock at the end of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Ohio State tackle Josh Simmons was still on the board. The Chiefs selected Simmons at No. 32 overall after a one-spot trade-back. Simmons quickly earned the left tackle job and relegated Moore to Kansas City's swing tackle role.

With a midseason absence from Simmons and injuries to Taylor, Moore ended up playing 38% of the Chiefs' offensive snaps in 2025, including six starts. Moore dealt with a knee issue of his own that caused him to miss games at the end of the season.

In the final five games of the year, the Chiefs started undrafted free agent Esa Pole at left tackle, where the 6-foot-7, 319-pound rookie made the most of his first taste of NFL action.

Pole didn't play high school football, but he made an impression at Chabot Community College before later transferring to Washington State. He's an excellent story and promising prospect, but it's worth being precise about where he stacks up against Moore today.

Why the Chiefs don't have a true right tackle battle

Pole showed flashes of promise during his five games at left tackle—I'm a fan of Pole's future and was a fan before the Chiefs cut him at the end of training camp last season—but his highs (understandably) weren't to the level of a player like Simmons, and his lows occasionally reminded us that he was an undrafted rookie with plenty of development still to undergo at the NFL level.

My confusion about the so-called "right tackle battle" has much less to do with Pole than it does with Moore. I'd argue that Pole is currently the odds-on favorite to be the Chiefs' starting right tackle in 2027, but it's still Moore's job for now.

Moore carries an $18.685 million salary cap hit this season, the fifth-highest figure on the team behind Chris Jones, Patrick Mahomes, Trey Smith and Nick Bolton. He's entering his sixth NFL season with 70 games and 18 starts under his belt (plus another half-dozen postseason appearances, though no starts). As far as I can tell, Moore was a total professional over the course of a 2025 season that could not have gone according to plan. He joined the Chiefs with hopes of protecting Mahomes' blind side and found himself relegated to a backup role before the season even began.

In our offseason exercise ranking the top 25 Chiefs for the 2026 season, Moore landed at No. 19. That was the Chiefs' lowest-ranking offensive line starter, but that's because the other four starters all landed within the top 11, and three appeared in the top seven.

Moore wasn't remarkable in 2025, but after the Chiefs parted ways with Taylor early this offseason, Moore was clearly the next in line for the starting role. Pole could rotate in with the first-team offense at times throughout training camp, but there's no need to immediately put starting expectations on Pole and no need to push Moore out of a strong starting lineup.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google