Brett Veach didn’t add an offensive lineman in the draft. He didn’t sign one in free agency, either. And now, with the Chiefs a week from opening against the Denver Broncos, that choice is starting to look a lot riskier than it did back in the spring.
The offseason debate around Kansas City’s line was loud from the jump. National voices kept hammering the same point: the Chiefs needed serious help up front, enough help that Veach should have spent his first draft pick on a tackle.
At the time, that sounded overstated. Josh Simmons and Jaylon Moore looked like workable pieces, and Esa Pole seemed like a decent emergency option if things went sideways.
Four months later, that confidence has thinned out.
The problem now isn’t just theory. It’s the actual shape of the roster heading into Week 1.
Trey Smith has been dealing with a hip issue, and Simmons’ back injury has kept him out of significant practice time during training camp. His status for the opener is doubtful.
That’s where the alarm bells really start ringing, because the Chiefs can’t control injuries, but they absolutely can be judged on whether they prepared for them.
Right now, the answer looks shaky.
Kansas City already made it clear that last season’s solutions weren’t enough. Wanya Morris and Esa Pole are gone.
Morris was traded to the Atlanta Falcons in June and then released in August. Pole was let go on roster cutdown day.
The team tried to patch things back together by trading for Diego Pounds and Joshua Ezeudu, but those are depth moves, not the kind that make you feel better about surviving a crisis. Mike Caliendo and Hunter Nourzad are still there, but neither has exactly raised the ceiling.
The best-case scenario may be Kahlil Benson, the undrafted free agent who turned heads in camp. Even that comes with a caveat. Benson looked like he might claim the starting right tackle job at one point, but that buzz has cooled, and Moore now appears to be the favorite to start there in Week 1.
That’s the part that should have Chiefs fans uneasy. If Kansas City ends up leaning on Benson, Pounds, Caliendo, Ezeudu, and Nourzad, the group doesn’t inspire much confidence.
Benson, Pounds, and Caliendo are undrafted. Ezeudu was a former third-round pick traded for next to nothing.
Nourzad has one career start. That’s not exactly a stable safety net when the line is already dealing with injuries before the season even begins.
And that’s why the question is hanging over Veach now: should the Chiefs have done more?
They had seven picks in this year’s draft. Could one have gone to an offensive lineman?
Could they have used their fourth-rounder on a tackle instead of Jadon Canady, then kept Kader Kohou, who had already been signed in free agency? Could they have chased a veteran like Rasheed Walker, a league-average tackle who would be Kansas City’s best backup right now, on a deal similar to the one-year, $10 million contract he got from the Carolina Panthers?
Could they have brought back Jawaan Taylor for the same $5 million price tag the Atlanta Falcons paid? With Trey Smith’s contract reworked, either route would have fit under the cap.
None of those ideas sounds outrageous. In fact, they sound like the kind of practical moves that raise the floor.
That’s what makes this feel so familiar. The Chiefs have already lived through the nightmare version of an offensive line that can’t hold up, and the memory is still fresh from Super Bowls LV against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles. Kansas City doesn’t need to be reminded what happens when the protection breaks down.
So here we are, a week before the opener, and the concern isn’t hypothetical anymore. Veach may not have meant to leave the Chiefs thin up front, but the decision not to add more help already has the look of one that could come back to haunt them.
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