Chiefs draft Ohio State OT Josh Simmons with 2025 first-round pick
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Kansas City Chiefs selected Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons with their first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
A year ago, Kansas City traded up in the draft to move from the 32nd overall selection to 28, where they selected Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy. This year, general manager Brett Veach moved back from the 31st pick to 32nd overall, swapping picks with the Philadelphia Eagles in a move that brought back an extra fifth-round pick in this year’s draft for Kansas City.
Simmons tore his patellar tendon in October, which brought into question where he would be selected Thursday night, despite being a top talent at the position.
“Josh, we felt, was a phenomenal athlete,” head coach Andy Reid said following the conclusion of Thursday night’s first round. “Would’ve been a higher pick obviously if he hadn’t been hurt. (Chiefs VP of Sports Medicine) Rick Burkholder has done a bunch of work on him and he’s in a good place.”
“We did a ton of work on Josh,” Veach said. “I think everyone knows when he’s healthy -- and the tape he had early on last year before the injury -- I mean it puts him up there in the upper echelon of what he could be and a future starter and difference-maker at left tackle.”
Simmons’ availability for the 2025 season is unclear as he recovers from the injury, but he was one of the nation’s best left tackles when healthy. During a Zoom call with reporters, Simmons said he has a doctor’s appointment coming up but that he’s expected to be prepared for training camp this summer.
“Availability is a great asset,” Veach said after stressing the extensive process the Chiefs underwent to find answers and feel comfortable with Simmons’ rehab process. “I mean you’ve gotta be on the field to get all the talent out of you.”
He becomes the third left tackle the Chiefs have selected in the past three drafts. In 2023, Kansas City took Wanya Morris in the third round. In 2024, Kingsley Suamataia was picked in the second round. Now, Simmons is in line to be Patrick Mahomes’ long-term solution as a blindside protector following a Super Bowl loss for Kansas City in which Mahomes was sacked for the most times in a game in his career.
Mahomes expressed his excitement for the pick with a simple emoji Thursday night.
Kansas City’s selection of Simmons comes in the same offseason in which Veach and company signed former San Francisco 49ers left tackle Jaylon Moore to a two-year deal worth $20 million.
Simmons began his college career at San Diego State and transferred to Ohio State after his freshman season. The 6-foot-5 native of San Diego, California, ended his junior season after six games when he suffered the torn patellar tendon in the Buckeyes’ game at Oregon.
Despite only playing in six games in 2024, Simmons was still an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. In 32 career games in college, Simmons started every game. Nineteen of those starts came for the Buckeyes.
Simmons was a four-star prospect in the Class of 2021 high school rankings, according to 247 Sports composite rankings.
Veach is typically known for trading up in drafts rather than trading down. He said when Eagles general manager Howie Roseman called he just asked “tell me offense or defense.” When Roseman told him defense -- allowing Philadelphia to select Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell -- Veach was comfortable moving back a spot to select what he hopes is Kansas City’s future at left tackle.
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