KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Perhaps the most important day in the Chiefs’ scouting evaluation process ahead of next week’s NFL Draft came last Friday. That’s when the Chiefs, led by general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid, hosted one of the most compelling prospects in this year’s draft class: Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons.
Every team in the league knows that Simmons, when fully healthy, is talented enough to be a potential Day 1 starter as a rookie. Simmons intrigues the Chiefs for a variety of reasons, the most prominent being that he could be the player Veach and Reid have searched for the past five years, a player who can excel at protecting quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ blind side.
Simmons could fall into the late first round of the draft because of the non-contact knee injury he sustained in mid-October that ended his final college season.
The Chiefs, who have the 31st pick, hosted Simmons to get another update on his rehab with the understanding that Veach — who is known for his aggressiveness this time of year — could target him as a prospect worthy of trading up to acquire (just like he did for cornerback Trent McDuffie in 2022 and receiver Xavier Worthy last year).
“Every opportunity you have to spend with a player, I found it to be valuable,” Veach said Thursday. “I know there’s some teams that don’t do visits. I’m just a believer that the more you spend time with a prospect, the more you get to know him. Even if it’s a little bit, a little bit is better than nothing.
“With the players we just brought in, you’re going to get additional medical (information), the guys at the combine, you need a recheck, whether it be a knee, a shoulder, an ankle. If we can bring those guys in to get extensive time with our doctors, that’s important for us.”
Last month, Veach and Reid prioritized strengthening the Chiefs’ offensive line by retaining right guard Trey Smith and signing left tackle Jaylon Moore as the team’s first move in free agency. On defense, the Chiefs acquired and re-signed four veterans — linebacker Nick Bolton, defensive end Charles Omenihu, cornerback Kristian Fulton and defensive tackle Jerry Tillery — who fit certain roles for coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. And as expected, the Chiefs re-signed running back Kareem Hunt and receivers Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster to one-year deals.
These moves have allowed the Chiefs to enter the draft without a glaring weakness on their roster, which leads to plenty of intriguing avenues for Veach to continue building the team. Veach knows perhaps the most significant path to improve the Chiefs’ roster — and sustaining the franchise’s dynastic run with Mahomes — is by further strengthening the left tackle position through the draft.
After all, the Chiefs didn’t have a suitable player at one of the sport’s most premium positions last season. Three players played snaps at the position — Kingsley Suamataia, Wanya Morris and D.J. Humphries — before the Chiefs had All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney switch positions just weeks ahead of the postseason.
In the past two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Moore played 279 pass-blocking snaps and allowed just two sacks. The Chiefs are optimistic that he is ready for an increase in responsibility after being a four-year understudy behind Trent Williams, one of the league’s best left tackles.
“We’re really excited about Jaylon and what he can bring,” Veach said. “Again, (it’s a) small sample size, but it’s been really good and we’re excited to work with him. It’s a long season, and Jaylon is under a two-year contract and (right tackle) Jawaan (Taylor) is getting toward the tail end of his contract, too, so you always have to have one eye on the present and one on the future.
“Obviously, any chance you have to draft a guy that you can project to be a starting left tackle, you do that — and they’re really hard to come by. You typically don’t find left tackles in free agency.”
A year ago, Veach and his personnel staff had 18 non-quarterback prospects with a first-round grade on their draft board, from a list of 221 players. This year, he said the Chiefs’ draft board includes 202 players and just 13 non-quarterback prospects with a first-round grade.
One position that excites Veach this year is running back as he believes it is the deepest group in this year’s class. The Chiefs need a young, dynamic running back to pair with starter Isiah Pacheco. Mahomes accounted for 72.5 percent of the offense’s yards last season, the most of any quarterback. Another reason the Chiefs should consider selecting a running back is that they don’t have a capable player at the position under contract for the 2026 season.
“You can get a really good player from rounds one through five,” Veach said. “There’s a ton of running backs and I think there’ll be a good chance that one of these picks ends up being one of those players. Hopefully, they’re a dynamic (kickoff or punt) returner as well.”
Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson ran the ball well today. But they also blocked their tails off.
Some attitude on these plays. pic.twitter.com/Y3noQM5c0N
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) November 3, 2024
If the Chiefs are unable to acquire Simmons or another left tackle prospect in the first round, Veach could pivot his plans toward selecting an ascending defensive lineman with plenty of pass-rushing juice.
Before free agency, the Chiefs had only one defensive tackle under contract for the 2025 season: Chris Jones. Last month, Veach acquired Tillery in free agency and re-signed Mike Pennel, each player signing a one-year deal. Omenihu’s contract is also for only one year.
“There’s a lot of (quality) defensive ends,” Veach said. “The interior defensive line numbers are better than most years, but I don’t think they come anywhere close to the defensive end and corner depth.”
A secondary mission for Veach in this draft is to identify and select a group of prospects who will be adequate in their role as rookies in the upcoming season to fortify the rotation and versatility at a number of positions.
“With all these players, you’re a few bad weeks away from having no depth at all,” Veach said. “Last year, Pacheco got hurt early on. We always want to surround Pat with playmakers, and the more talented wideouts you can throw on the field at one time is important to us.
“You could easily say we need two interior defensive linemen, another defensive end, two corners, another running back and two or three offensive linemen. I don’t ever look at our roster and think, like, ‘We’re good.’ You never know where you’re going to need the depth, like receiver last year. We were loaded at wideout, and then we get to Week 4 and then we’re making a trade for DeAndre Hopkins.”
If the Chiefs can’t land a premium prospect in the first round, Veach might see his best solution as trading out of the round. Such a move, Veach said, would allow the Chiefs to acquire more draft picks on Day 2 and Day 3 to help accomplish the goal of adding as many as 10 prospects to the roster.
“I certainly have a tendency to be on the aggressive side and move up,” Veach said, smiling. “The secondary (tier of prospects) is a little bit bigger, so I think there is probably, from a sheer numbers standpoint, more of a likelihood that that could happen. That could be in our wheelhouse.”
(Photo of Josh Simmons: Adam Cairns / Columbus Dispatch / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)