Did Chiefs Get the Steal of the Draft?

The Kansas City Chiefs are a team that has always found a way to make the most out of their draft picks. Even with drafting at the end of most rounds, the Chiefs have found the best talent to add to their team, and those players have found success at the NFL level as well. It has proven to be a plan that the Chiefs want to keep doing because it has worked for them and won championships for them.

The Chiefs did it again in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The Chiefs traded back one spot to make the last pick of the first round once again, but they still ended up getting a top player in the draft. A lot of credit has to go to general manager Brett Veach because he delivered in the area the team needed the most.

"In Simmons, the Chiefs believe they got a steal. The Ohio State product displayed a skill set and level of dominance in his two seasons as a starter for the Buckeyes that originally prompted many talent evaluators to project him as a top-10 draft pick. But an injury that required surgery to repair a torn patella tendon cut his senior season short and thus scared off some teams," said Mike Jones of The Athletic.

"But Veach and his staff, head trainer Rick Burkholder and Kansas City’s team doctors conducted extensive research on the 6-foot-5, 317-pound Simmons. They met with him and put him through a thorough medical examination at the combine, did a follow-up while hosting him for a top 30 pre-draft visit, closely monitored his progress while also consulting with Simmons’ medical team, and held a lengthy Zoom meeting with him on the eve of the draft."

"Simmons said the attention the Chiefs devoted to him dwarfed that of any other team in the draft, so when he got the call from Veach late Thursday night, the moment had a surreal feeling, but not at all a degree of surprise."

"Simmons, who played two seasons at San Diego State before transferring to Ohio State, described his injury-related slide to Kansas City as a blessing in disguise."

“The expectations are different when you go there and have that quarterback playing behind you,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s a relief because I still need to haul ass and get back on the field. But, it’s the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s a really, really, really good football club you’re going to.”

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