Chiefs all but confirm starting left tackle with snap counts vs Jaguars

For those who expected a real competition at left tackle this summer, the Chiefs declared it was already over on Saturday.

Coming into this summer, one of the most hotly-contested positions on the Kansas City Chiefs roster was expected to be the starting left tackle. After consecutive draft classes of high-level investments, the Chiefs looked like they were going to set the players free to compete openly for much of the preseason.

After the Chiefs' first preseason exhibition, it's clear there was never any competition to begin with.

Kingsley Suamataia is the Chiefs starting left tackle. Of course, it already felt that way in training camp when the second-round pick out of Brigham Young was earning the vast majority of reps along with fellow first-teamers. But of course, things can change and the approaching game on Saturday night seemed like a prime time for Suamataia to get his reps in and prove what he can do.

However, on Saturday night, Suamataia hardly played. And the lack of playing time is actually what sent the loudest competitive message at EverBank Stadium.

Instead of allowing Suamataia to play a considerable amount of reps against the Jaguars in the hopes of testing him further, they removed him from the field at the same time they did with stars like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. It was a surprising move considering Suamataia is still a raw product who could stand to learn a thing or two even from playing against backups.

The only reason a team would keep a young player from such valuable preseason reps is if they are going to be counting on him to stay upright for the regular season. If Suamataia was locked in a battle with Wanya Morris, as anticipated originally, then the Chiefs would likely keep him in the game for at least a series longer. Instead he played a handful of snaps and then disappeared.

That sort of signal should be viewed as a good thing. While Suamataia will come into the regular season a bit rough around the edges, and while he'll undoubtedly face a steep learning curve this season, if the Chiefs feel like he's ready for it already, then they might have finally found a long-term solution at one of the game's most important positions after years of trying.

There's more training camp to go along with two more preseason games, so nothing is set in stone just yet. But the Chiefs are already treating Kingsley Suamataia like their starting left tackle, a confident refrain that should excite Chiefs Kingdom for the future of the offensive front.