The Chiefs’ offensive line debate has a simple answer for now: nobody knows yet.
Kansas City is heading toward training camp with the same basic argument hanging over its 2026 outlook. One camp says the Chiefs are rolling back too much of last season’s line and asking for trouble. The other says the panic is overblown, pointing to a strong interior, a promising young left tackle and the belief that last year’s issues were driven by injuries rather than a lack of talent.
That split has turned into a familiar tug-of-war between national skeptics and Chiefs fans. The outsiders are getting brushed off as people who don’t really know the roster.
The believers are being tagged as homers. And the truth, at least on paper, looks like it sits somewhere in the middle.
The interior line is not the problem. The tackles are.
Josh Simmons is the biggest swing factor on the left side. The former first-round pick flashed real upside as a rookie, but he only got into eight games. His college career ended with a patellar tendon injury, then his first pro season was interrupted by a personal issue that kept him away from the team for multiple weeks and later a fractured wrist that shut him down.
None of that guarantees anything about what comes next. Simmons could put all of it behind him, stay healthy, stay available and play 17 games like a future All-Pro. He could also be one of those talented players whose promise gets slowed down by the same kinds of setbacks that keep showing up.
That’s why the left tackle spot is still a prove-it situation. There’s no real evidence that Simmons will keep running into problems, but there’s also no proof that the concerns are gone. He has to show he can be dependable, both on and off the field, and if he does, that changes the whole feel of Kansas City’s line.
The right side looks even less settled.
The Chiefs appear to be choosing between Jaylon Moore and Esa Pole for the starting right tackle job, and both names come with questions. Moore was a free-agent signing, Pole came in as an undrafted free agent, and Kansas City seems confident the winner will be serviceable.
Maybe that’s right. But last season’s numbers were not especially encouraging.
Moore’s pass protection was rough. Among 84 qualifying tackles, Pro Football Focus ranked him 66th in pass protection grade.
He allowed 27 pressures on 257 pass-blocking snaps. By comparison, Jawaan Taylor gave up 20 pressures on 517 pass-blocking snaps last year, and even with his own issues, he was much better in pass protection.
That matters because the Chiefs have often leaned on deep pass sets, which can put more stress on tackles asked to survive outside speed without much help. Moore was Kansas City’s best run-blocking tackle last season, but when he was left on an island in pass protection, the results were shaky.
Could Moore take a step forward? Absolutely.
Could Pole keep developing and win the job? Sure.
Could the Chiefs lean more heavily on the run game to give the right tackle more support? Definitely.
But none of that removes the basic question: how reliable is the pass protection going to be there?
So the debate around Kansas City’s offensive tackles isn’t settled by reputation, optimism or outside noise. It gets settled when the games start.
The Chiefs didn’t add new bodies to the room, but that doesn’t mean last season’s outcome is locked in. It also doesn’t mean the best-case version is guaranteed.
For now, the tackles remain the part of the line that has to answer for itself.
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