Josh Simmons Shares Valuable Lesson Learned From Creed Humphrey

Last season was a weird one for the normally consistent Kansas City Chiefs, and the trajectory of their first-round pick was a perfect encapsulation of that.

Then-rookie left tackle Josh Simmons started off hot, only to eventually see his debut campaign get derailed by a personal matter and injury. Heading into his second year, both he and the team are hoping things will stabilize.

How does Simmons feel as organized team activities (OTAs) are set to kick off? Brandon Thorn asked him just that on a recent episode of his PASS PRO LAB series, and the sophomore tackle is ready to get after it.

Thanks to his current and former teammates, Simmons seems better prepared for what's ahead in his first full offseason.

"Pretty good, man," Simmons said. "You have a bigger spoonful of what to expect coming into your second year which, with the vets around me, is great. You can just pick from people like Creed (Humphrey). Back last year, Jawaan (Taylor) was a big guy I leaned on. So now you're going into year two with all these tools in your toolbox, and you still have so much to learn. I'm very excited for it."

In all, Simmons appeared in just under half of the Chiefs' games — eight, to be exact — as a rookie. In "just" 526 offensive snaps, he managed to make a name for himself as a high-upside tackle who very well could justify his 2025 NFL Draft slot at 32nd overall.

For all his raw talent and impressive athleticism, though, it's a mental lesson Simmons learned from Humphrey, his All-Pro center, that's stuck with him.

"The thing about Creed, with him, is just how he stays so composed," Simmons said. "Even with him being a center and everything's happening within half a second, he stays so composed. That's probably the biggest thing I took from him.

"I was going to see some scary D-linemen, some scary faces, in Week 1. Khalil Mack, Nik Bonitto. The one thing was just stay calm. Nothing good can come from [panicking]. You just get yourself in problems — it'll be hard to get out, especially going against these guys."

Entering this coming season, Kansas City projects to have a plus offensive line. It contains a nice blend of intriguing young pieces such as Simmons and left guard Kingsley Suamataia, as well as established veterans like Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith.

In order to join the latter two as cornerstone and foundational weapons up front, Simmons must master achieving snap-to-snap consistency and be available every week. The second one has proven to be more difficult than the first. According to Pro Football Focus, his 75.5 pass block grade from last year ranked 25th out of 89 qualified tackles.

Assuming good health, which might be ill-advised, it's safe to bank on Simmons continuing to learn on the fly as his star ascends. He'll determine his own upside, but having someone like Humphrey to help him along doesn't hurt one bit.

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