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A one-game sample size magnified a glaring problem with the Kansas City Chiefs last season. Unfortunately, that came on the game's biggest stage when Patrick Mahomes was sacked six times in Super Bowl LIX.
Regardless Mahomes' faults for getting a little too creative at times, the fundamental job of the line is to protect the quarterback. This offseason, the Chiefs have overhauled this group to ensure that process following through in the coming years.
They tagged Trey Smith, maintaining one of the best interior linemen in the league. But their most notable work was done on the outside when they signed Jaylon Moore and Josh Simmons.
Both players have their questions with Moore's being his lack of starting experience and Simmons a leg injury that ended his final collegiate season back in October.
Jawaan Taylor has spent the last two seasons with the Chiefs, but those two are an immediate threat to his future with the team. Like Simmons, Taylor is recovering from his own injury though it is his job that could be on the line if he does not get back to the field.
Jawaan (Taylor) is doing a good job now with rehab from his knee, but he has to stay healthy," general manager Brett Veach said after the draft.
"You have him under contract now for five years and these guys are so hard to find."
Simmons enters the league as a left tackle but has played on the right side before during his years at San Diego State. That versatility could allow the Chiefs to plug him in on the right and Moore on the left at a much cheaper rate.
Taylor's four-year, $80 million deal that he signed in 2023 has him set to trigger cap hits of over $27 million the next two seasons. If the Chiefs are able to extend Smith long term, that deal will come at a cost as well.
Kansas City needs to cut costs somewhere to build out flexibility for the coming years. Having drafted Simmons, there is a very apparent replacement threat for Taylor.
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Regardless Mahomes' faults for getting a little too creative at times, the fundamental job of the line is to protect the quarterback. This offseason, the Chiefs have overhauled this group to ensure that process following through in the coming years.
They tagged Trey Smith, maintaining one of the best interior linemen in the league. But their most notable work was done on the outside when they signed Jaylon Moore and Josh Simmons.
Both players have their questions with Moore's being his lack of starting experience and Simmons a leg injury that ended his final collegiate season back in October.
Jawaan Taylor has spent the last two seasons with the Chiefs, but those two are an immediate threat to his future with the team. Like Simmons, Taylor is recovering from his own injury though it is his job that could be on the line if he does not get back to the field.
Jawaan (Taylor) is doing a good job now with rehab from his knee, but he has to stay healthy," general manager Brett Veach said after the draft.
"You have him under contract now for five years and these guys are so hard to find."
Simmons enters the league as a left tackle but has played on the right side before during his years at San Diego State. That versatility could allow the Chiefs to plug him in on the right and Moore on the left at a much cheaper rate.
Taylor's four-year, $80 million deal that he signed in 2023 has him set to trigger cap hits of over $27 million the next two seasons. If the Chiefs are able to extend Smith long term, that deal will come at a cost as well.
Kansas City needs to cut costs somewhere to build out flexibility for the coming years. Having drafted Simmons, there is a very apparent replacement threat for Taylor.
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