Looking back at a particular draft class will often yield surprising returns, especially when reconsidering the order in which prospects should have been selected based on their productivity or impact on the field after the fact. One year after the Kansas City Chiefs selected Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons, it looks like he'd likely be slotted for a very similar spot if the NFL found a way to re-draft the 2025 edition.
Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic decided to give the '25 NFL Draft another once-through to check the effectiveness of the original picks. Simmons came in just a few spots above where he was taken by the Chiefs in the real thing, which says something about both his potential and the questions that remain coming into his second season.
As a refresher, the Chiefs traded places with the Philadelphia Eagles in a minor swap at the bottom of the first round last spring. Howie Roseman, the Eagles general manager, offered a fifth-round pick to the Chiefs in order to move up a single spot and secure the rights to Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell. Kansas City GM Brett Veach agreed to the move when Roseman explained that he was drafting a defender.
At that point, the Chiefs knew they could land Simmons at No. 32 overall, so they picked up an extra day three draft asset and still came away with their franchise left tackle. The Chiefs packaged that fifth-round pick with a seventh-round selection to trade up for linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, who is expected to play a bigger role in his second season after a largely redshirt season on defense in '25.
A redraft of the 2025 NFL Draft show the same excitement and concern for Josh Simmons one year later.
Baumgardner's redraft features some significant changes up top, including tackle Armand Membou at No. 2 (instead of WR/CB Travis Hunter) and quarterback Jaxson Dart at No. 3 overall (instead of DL Abdul Carter). Later in the draft, however, things settled into a familiar pattern as teams stayed with late-first-round offensive tackles.
The Washington Commanders selected tackle Josh Conerly at No. 29 overall and that's where Baumgardner has Simmons going this time around—three spots above where he was taken by K.C. As for Conerly, he was taken the pick before Simmons in this redraft exercise, which left Washington with the next OT off the board.
The fact that Simmons remained in the same general range of the draft is interesting. He's a clear franchise tackle, but his injury history followed him to the professional level as he played in only 8 games all season. In addition, Simmons took a four-week leave of absence for personal reasons, which meant he lost a quarter of his rookie season for reasons unknown.
Instead of going with an offensive tackle, the Chiefs instead stick at their original post of No. 31 overall even as they pick another Ohio State prospect. This time, it's cornerback Denzel Burke, who ended up going in the fifth round to the Arizona Cardinals. Burke had 3 interceptions and 11 pass deflections in his rookie campaign, with 8 starts in 17 games. Campbell, by the way, still went to the Eagles at No. 32.