Four things we’ll be watching closely as the Chiefs begin practice this week
Naturally, the Chiefs have navigated a quieter offseason this year, absent the hoopla that shadows a championship.
That starts to change this week.
Not the hoopla — but the quiet, at least.
The offseason programming kicks into gear with organized team activities (OTAs) over the next three weeks. The Chiefs will host a media availability Thursday, with a short practice viewing window for which The Star will be in attendance.
It’s not exactly the most important practice the Chiefs will hold before taking off for Brazil for Week 1 in September, but it is our initial glance at next year.
Here’s what The Star’s coverage team — Sam McDowell, Vahe Gregorian, Jesse Newell and Blair Kerkhoff — is eager to see at the summer workouts:
Stability, not a stopgap, at left tackle
Eric Fisher was a luxury. After making him the first overall draft pick in 2013 and giving him an apprenticeship at right tackle as a rookie, the Chiefs moved Fisher to left tackle and he delivered seven solid seasons with two Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl ring.
Since then, left tackle has been in scramble mode with three primary starters in the past four years and four different starters alone in 2024.
The Chiefs managed the position quite nicely — five Super Bowl appearances with five different left tackles — until their most recent game when Patrick Mahomes was sacked a career-high six times in the Super Bowl blowout by the Philadelphia Eagles.
This year’s solution comes from free agency and the draft. The Chiefs signed free agent Jaylon Moore to a two-year, $30 million deal and then selected Josh Simmons from Ohio State in the first round.
Moore, with 12 starts in 55 career games, flashed ability as Trent Williams’ primary backup.
“It’s someone we have big expectations for,” Mahomes said.
Perhaps an even bigger anticipation awaits Simmons.
The Chiefs traded back one spot, to No. 32, and then selected Simmons, whose stock dropped after missing the second half of last season with a torn patellar tendon in his left knee. At midseason last year, Simmons was considered perhaps the draft’s top tackle prospect.
Andy Reid said Simmons was “moving around good” but needs more time to heal. But the Chiefs aren’t in scramble mode here. Look for Moore to run with the starters during OTAs, but if Simmons gains full strength during training camp he could be the Week 1 starter. It also possible the Chiefs could give a Moore reps at right tackle, where Jawaan Taylor enters his third season in Kansas City.
Simmons could give the Chiefs stability at left tackle they haven’t had since Fisher.
—Blair Kerkhoff
A ‘new’ weapon for Patrick Mahomes
Blair covered the position that occupied the bulk of the Chiefs’ attention this offseason.
But the best player they added this offseason?
It’s Rashee Rice.
After a friendly-fire knee injury in Week 4, Rice missed the remainder of the 2024 season. Or the Chiefs missed him, I should say.
The turnstile at left tackle proved there isn’t a non-quarterback position that can affect an offense more than the blindside protection. Kingsley Suamataia, Wanya Morris, D.J. Humphries and Joe Thuney couldn’t provide a solution.
Rice could have.
At least somewhat.
He is the key to a short passing game that defenses have forced the Chiefs to implement in recent seasons — before their own offensive line required Patrick Mahomes to get rid of the ball quickly.
That’s where Rice excels. Through three weeks before the injury last year, he was lapping the league in yards after the catch — his 185 led the NFL by 44 yards, per PFF tracking.
That’s why he’s a key addition this year, no matter the situation at left tackle.
But where is his health for the summer programming?
Andy Reid told The Star two months ago that Rice is on track to be ready for training camp in late July. Will he participate in any of the team drills during OTAs this week? Or likely a more realistic ask: Will he participate in the individual work?
Either would be a positive sign for one of the most important developments of the Chiefs’ season, and Thursday offers our first glance at its progress.
—Sam McDowell
A running back ... back?
Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco, historically, is already one of the most fun players to watch at KC’s practices.
The fourth-year pro seems to be intense all the time, meaning he usually has trouble reining in his excitement during run-throughs while constantly bouncing off teammates or chirping at defensive players from the sideline.
These OTAs will be interesting to watch, however, because we’ll be watching not only to see if a healthy Pacheco has his spark back.
We’ll also be seeing if his explosion makes a return as well.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid provided some great insight on Pacheco when we spoke with him at the NFL Owners Meeting in March, admitting that the running back rushed back from a fibula injury last season.
“Most guys probably wouldn’t have come back (from his injury), but if you know him for about a minute, you’ll know that he wasn’t going to be held back,” Reid said. “So I think you’ll get even a better player this year.”
Reid said the difference in the typically speedy Pacheco was apparent on film. Advanced numbers indicated a difference as well; according to NFL Next Gen Stats before Super Bowl LIX, Pacheco recorded an average speed of 8.83 mph at the line of scrimmage last season — the seventh-slowest mark among 70 running backs with at least 50 carries.
“He was physically OK to go. But when you’re looking at it, it’s minute stuff,” Reid said, talking about rewatching the tape. “Just maybe that ability to cut as quick as he did before. Now it’s still quick, but you’re talking inches here. Was it what he could do before? Well, it wasn’t.”
Pacheco, 26, faces a critical year. He’s in the last year of his rookie contract, and historic age curves indicate that running backs often decline quicker than other positions.
The good news for Pacheco? KC appears to be giving him every chance to reassert himself as the team’s RB1 if he’s healthy in 2025.
Yes, the Chiefs signed Elijah Mitchell in free agency and also brought back Kareem Hunt. But KC also didn’t take a running back early in the draft to compete for the top running back role, as seventh-round pick Brashard Smith appears to project more as a kick returner/third-down back type.
It’s on Pacheco, then, to prove he can be the player he once was in KC’s offense.
And that starts this week in OTAs.
—Jesse Newell
All eyes still on Mahomes
Before he even turns 30 in September, Patrick Mahomes is Pro Football Hall of Fame-bound and building a fine case toward being the best there ever was. But he’s still three MVP awards from matching Peyton Manning’s five and four Super Bowl wins from equaling Tom Brady’s seven. And while his greatness transcends stats, it’s also true that for a variety of reasons his once-mind boggling numbers have diminished the last few seasons.
The Chiefs finished just 15th in points scored in 2023 and 2024; last season Mahomes experienced his career low in yards a game (245.5) and per completion (10), matched a career low with 26 touchdown passes and was sacked a career-high 36 times.
Pivotal injuries to Hollywood Brown and Rice absolutely were part of that, as was the absurd left tackle issue. But part of it has been the mindset of Mahomes. He’ll be the first to tell you — as he did in a call with local media in April — that “we have to push the envelope” more and open the offense back up. A key is his own willingness to trust and let it fly without being reckless, a balance that defined him in the two MVP seasons as he averaged 45.5 TD passes and 12 interceptions.
Yes, only so much can be established in the offseason, and it bears mention this was a point of emphasis a year ago. (Mahomes used the very term “push the envelope” in August.) But what I’m looking for in OTAs and camp is to see Mahomes let loose and get back to who he is.
The Chiefs can scale that back as called for later, especially since improvement at left tackle remains to be seen. But extending the dynastic era (and Mahomes moving toward Manning and Brady) is going to require finding more ways to win than being carried by the defense again. And where better to see that than in a revival of what got this all started?
—Vahe Gregorian