The Kansas City Chiefs made it to the Super Bowl last season, but it was a forgetful performance for Andy Reid and company. As a result, the Chiefs are looking to return to the big game for a bounce-back performance.
Nonetheless, to get there, one expert believes that Kansas City will need a rookie to not play like a rookie because it will benefit Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense to look like they used to in past years.
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The Athletic’s Derrik Klassen stated that there’s pressure on rookie offensive tackle Josh Simmons to hit the ground running and not have any transition phase during the season since he’s playing a major role in the Chiefs’ offense.
“If Josh Simmons is good enough, that is one of the other big reasons that this team could be really good,” Klassen said on “The Athletic Football Show.” “Because, again, like I said, part of the reason that they could not throw down the field last year was that they did not feel like they could protect, especially in drop-back scenarios.”
Simmons needs to be part of the offensive line that can protect Mahomes’ time because one of the lasting memories from the previous season was the Super Bowl, where the Chiefs’ star was sacked six times.
Nonetheless, Klassen isn’t asking Simmons to be a Pro Bowler in Year 1; if he and his teammates can be an average offensive line, that’s already a victory for Kansas City.
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“If Simmons can at least go from, I don’t know, the Chiefs having [offensive] tackle 31 last year to offensive tackle 21, that goes a really long way in Patrick Mahomes being comfortable back there, having the time to find guys like [Xavier] Worthy and [Rashee] Rice down the field,” Klassen added.
“And if they can tap into that a little bit, I think that’s how we go from, ‘Oh, the Chiefs found a way to be the seventh-best offense again,’ versus, ‘Oh, they’re lighting the world on fire.’”
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