Kahlil Benson has already forced the Kansas City Chiefs' hand this offseason. It's a continuing trend now that training camp has arrived.
Benson is one of several undrafted free agent signings new to Kansas City this spring and summer. For such a prospect, the earning of an actual contract on a 90-man roster is a major achievement, but Benson looks intent on making more noise than anyone would have expected.
As the Chiefs took to the fields at Missouri Western State University for training camp practice on Thursday, Benson was standing up front alongside some of the biggest stars on the roster, taking first-team reps at right tackle. Alongside Josh Simmons, Kingsley Suamataia, Creed Humphrey, and Trey Smith, Benson was holding things down with the rest of the starters.
Following practice, Humphrey spoke with reporters about a few topics and Benson's name came up. What followed was glowing praise that should make Chiefs fans excited about Benson's development.
"Really hard worker," said Humphrey when asked about his perception of Benson's talents. "He’s a very hard worker. You can tell it’s important to him. He shows up every meeting, every walkthrough, every lift, everything with the right mindset. Really strong player, just from a physical standpoint. His punching power, things like that, he’s really strong and really technical too, so we’re really excited about him."
The rookie free agent is making his presence felt early in training camp for the Chiefs.
Benson has plenty of starting experience as a multi-year starter at right tackle for the Indiana Hoosiers (along with some experience blocking for Shedeur Sanders at Colorado in 2024). He won a title with the Hoosiers a year ago but went unselected in the draft in April. Dane Brugler of The Athletic cited his "sloppy tendencies" as a reason for his lower draft stock and predicted he would go unselected, with the pro potential of sliding inside as a guard.
The Chiefs are sticking with him outside, and they liked what they saw so much from Benson that they traded Wanya Morris to the Atlanta Falcons, which came after also releasing Jawaan Taylor with one year to go on his contract. The Chiefs haven't exactly been flush with starting options at offensive tackle in recent years, but the emergence of Esa Pole, an undrafted signing last spring, to go with Benson's presence made the team comfortable enough to flip a veteran like Morris for draft considerations.
Jaylon Moore is still the starting right tackle on paper at this point. In a contract year, Moore is not short on motivation to hold off competitors like Pole or Benson (among others) for the role. But the fact that Benson has forced his way into a rotation shows that the situation is more fluid than what Moore would like at this stage. The Chiefs like their younger options here, and they're giving them a chance to prove themselves.
Fans shouldn't pencil in Benson's name into the starting lineup just yet. The second day of training camp is exactly what these sorts of rotations are for. Coaches are using these reps to get an idea of what Benson can handle, but he's already an experienced player who has forced the front office to make room for his talents. Now other players might be stepping aside as well for one of the biggest surprises of the Chiefs offseaso.
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