Now that the time has come and gone for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2025 NFL Draft, it's appropriate to evaluate the selections they made and what it could mean for players already on the roster.
Guys like Isiah Pacheco have obvious competition, and the defensive line rotation just became much more interesting as well. However, most conversation at this stage justifiably revolves around first-round pick Josh Simmons, who is generally considered to be the left tackle of the future.
It may take some time, especially since Simmons is working his way back from a torn patellar tendon, but the pick puts new Chiefs signing Jaylon Moore firming on the hot seat before he even arrives in Kansas City.
Ohio State OT Josh Simmons #71 has been a popular selection for the Chiefs at 31 in mock drafts lately
— Daniel Harms (@InHarmsWay19) March 24, 2025
Here, he uses a flat attack to force the rusher to hesitate, and as he's coming up the arc, Simmons jabs his lower side to throw him off balance and then finishes the block pic.twitter.com/WbzZMsKDuO
Chiefs' Josh Simmons Pick Puts Jaylon Moore on Hot Seat
Kansas City signed Moore to a two-year, $30 million contract this offseason, presumably to serve as their starting right tackle. In limited time with the San Francisco 49ers, he ranked 25th out of 140 qualified tackles at Pro Football Focus, displaying a promising skill set that the Chiefs were obviously fond of.
However, he's no Simmons, who most thought would be a top-10 pick if not for the injury. Should Simmons get healthy in time for the start of the season, it might be a matter of when he takes Moore's job, not if. It likely won't be Week 1, yet Simmons' talent will be hard for the coaching staff to ignore.
What that would mean for Moore isn't quite clear. Kansas City can get out of Jawaan Taylor's outsized contract following 2025, so perhaps Moore slides to the right side and replaces him after a year. Perhaps he holds down the starting job for the whole campaign and then relinquishes his job to Simmons after that, but it feels more likely than not that the Chiefs drafted Simmons to get some time.
Regardless, it was wise for general manager Brett Veach to directly attack a big weakness. By signing both Moore and drafting Simmons, he's given the team options, security, and insurance at the position. For now, it's just a matter of how long Moore is able to hold Simmons off before we see some shuffling along the projected depth chart.