Chiefs' OL Coach Chimes in on Kingsley Suamataia's Position Change

During a team press conference on Wednesday, Kansas City Chiefs offensive line coach Andy Heck spoke on shifting second-year lineman Kingsley Suamataia from offensive tackle (what he was originally drafted for) to guard.

"I mean, Kingsley (Suamataia) is a guy that has great versatility. I think he can do phenomenal in their guard," said Heck, "We're still getting him a little bit of tackle work. I think he can play left tackle, right tackle in this league, either guard; he's another guy that's super low, very strong, and gives us a good, powerful presence inside, and I think he's having fun with it."

Suamataia impressed many during last year's training camp, which ultimately led to him starting the year as the No. 1 left tackle on the depth chart. However, he ended up getting benched in Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals after continuing to struggle against the opposing pass rush.

From then on, Suamataia served primarily as a backup for the rest of the season, but Heck went on to discuss increased experience.

"I think what makes him well-suited to play guard is his size and strength. He really likes some guys who can move people in there at that spot," Heck continued. "I think he can do that or firm up the pocket until he doesn't want him to firm that pocket at three yards."

"So his strength is that he's just growing as a football player, whether at guard or tackle, simply by being around that, gaining experience, knowing our language that much better, knowing defense that much better, just experience."

While the Chiefs have hopefully found their winning lottery ticket with Josh Simmons, who they took with the 3rd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Suamataia will now most likely be backing up Mike Caliendo after he took over at the left guard position following Joe Thuney's departure for the Chicago Bears.

The Chiefs have desperately tried throwing many solutions at the left tackle position, from constant draft picks like Suamataia to even shifting Thuney (a guard) to the edge of the line. While Suamataia will no longer be an option at tackle, it'll be exciting to see what he can do with this new opportunity.

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