Chiefs Lineman Went From Outcast to Royalty in Pleasant Surprise

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kingsley Suamataia celebrates his 23rd birthday on Sunday. It’s a lot better than his 22nd.

Chiefs Kingdom, help @KingSuamataia feel like royalty today. HBD! pic.twitter.com/CPFDLNaRuQ
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 18, 2026

A year ago, Andy Reid benched Suamataia after two starts at left tackle to kick off his rookie season. His NFL future uncertain, he spent the rest of the year blocking for field goals and got a few snaps in the meaningless season finale at guard in Denver.

And while Joe Thuney is again expected to kick out to left tackle for his new team when Chicago hosts the Rams on Sunday (5:30 p.m. CT, NBC), Suamataia enjoyed the Chiefs’ best year-to-year rebound after replacing Thuney at left guard in 2025.

His position coach never had doubts

A 6-6, 315-pound lineman out of BYU, Suamataia hadn’t played guard until this season. His first year as an NFL guard was night and day compared to his first season as an NFL tackle, but offensive line coach Andy Heck wasn’t surprised.

“Yeah, I never had a question about that,” Heck said last month. “Kingsley is big, strong, athletic, and he's done a really good job of steadily improving this year, and I look forward to him having a really strong career there inside. I'm happy for him, because I personally like the guy, love the guy, and so love to see him make steps every week here, as we've gone through the year.”

He made plenty of steps, leaps actually, in 2025. He started all 17 games and played 98 percent of the Chiefs’ snaps. Pro Football Focus ranked him 36th overall among 81 NFL guards. As a pass-blocker, PFF graded him as the No. 26 guard.

Center Creed Humphrey, the Chiefs’ only first-team All-Pro, also started all 17 games. No one had a better look at Suamataia’s development.

Creed Humphrey on Suamataia

“Yeah, he's been awesome this year,” Humphrey said on Dec. 31, “and seeing him just improve at a new position he's never played. He improved each week throughout the season, He's been awesome. And it's been a blast playing with him this season, getting to know him better, playing right by him, things like that. Great, great teammate, great person, great football player.”

Suamataia led the league at his position in pass-block snaps, a product of the Chiefs’ disturbing predictability, and allowed three sacks.

But without question, Suamataia body of work in 2025 proved to be the Chiefs’ best offensive personnel decision and coaching job. One of Kansas City’s biggest questions entering the year, Suamataia answered in resounding fashion.

“Yeah, nice job throughout the year,” Reid said entering the team’s season finale. “Got better every game. And you know, there was that stretch there where we went against a lot of the good defenses and good defensive lines … These guys inside, he's had a nice test against the best, and he's held up pretty good there.”

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