The Kansas City Chiefs answered the most pressing offensive questions in the 2026 offseason by reuniting with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and signing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III. These two moves, along with parting ways with Jawaan Taylor, appeared to answer the team's biggest frustrations and leave one obvious remaining question mark. Looking at the current construction of the offense, arguably the biggest question mark is second-year left tackle Josh Simmons.
If the lineman is able to live up to expectations, the Chiefs will have a chance to be one of the league's better offensive units. Protecting Mahomes' blindside is all-important as the 30-year-old is coming off a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee. Simmons flashing clear upside in his first season was a good start.
Simmons missed extended time during his rookie season due to a wrist injury in late Nov. that ended his year, as well as a personal situation that held him out for roughly a month. Health and life always come before what is a game, but this doesn't take away the fact that the ceiling and consistency of Simmons remain unknown. Adding to the questions is the fact that the 23-year-old showed up to minicamp clearly having lost a noticeable amount of weight.
The hope is that a full offseason to get healthy and the lesser weight will give Simmons a better ability to stay on the field and the needed quickness to stay in front of pass-rushers. Still, Chiefs fans have yet to see this expectation become a reality, leaving it as a possible weakness.
Josh Simmons remains somewhat of an unknown for the Chiefs heading into 2026.
Simmons played 367 pass protection snaps in the 2025 season and offered a PFF rating of 75.5 in those snaps, only giving up a pair of sacks. It's solid production for a rookie tackle playing for an offense that was often behind and forced into obvious passing downs. The presence of Walker should help provide a bit more balance and take some pressure off Simmons in year two.
For the Chiefs, you simply need to see Simmons stay on the field for a full season and show the improvements from a season ago. There was a clear level of progression when Simmons managed to stay on the field, pointing to a bright future.
The concern simply remains whether Simmons can stay healthy and produce at the expected level. The fact that this is Kansas City's biggest remaining offensive concern serves as evidence of a strong offseason and how many issues have been corrected.
Adding so little depth at tackle in the offseason while parting ways with both Wanya Morris and Taylor points to a high level of trust from the Chiefs and the expectation that Simmons will quickly erase any questions in the 2026 season.
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