The Kansas City Chiefs placed 2025 first-round pick Josh Simmons on IR last week, meaning that he'll miss at least the next four games. Simmons has not played a single snap this season due to a bulging disc in his back.
It's been a drama-filled relationship for Simmons and the Chiefs. He only played eight games as a rookie and also had injuries then and missed time for personal reasons. Now, well, here we are. Simmons hasn't played at all this year with the back problem and was then placed on IR.
That wasn't where it ended, though. A report leaked about Simmons angering Andy Reid during a team meeting and the head coach and Patrick Mahomes both asking the former first-round tackle to leave the meeting. It was reported that he later apologized to the team leaders for his behavior.
Ian Rapoport threw more gas on the fire when he reported that he didn't think Simmons would ever play for the Chiefs again. With all of that going down, it's hard for fans not to think about what direction the Chiefs could have gone in with the 32nd pick of the 2025 draft now that Simmons is off to an incredibly frustrating start and might not play for them again.
The Chiefs originally held the 31st pick in the 2025 NFL Draft but ended up swapping spots with the Eagles, moving one spot back to 32nd overall. With that pick, they took Simmons, who, as we know, hasn't gotten off to the start the team was hoping for when they picked him.
If the Chiefs could have a mulligan at the pick, who would they take?
Carson Schwesinger could have given Chiefs an elite option at LB
It's important to remember that the Chiefs drafted Simmons because their offensive line got completely manhandled in Super Bowl 59, and despite the injury Simmons was working back from, he was considered to be worth the risk. Had the Chiefs gone with one of these other players, fans probably would have been upset at the time.
Even with that being the case, Chiefs fans would gladly have admitted they were wrong if the team had taken Carson Schwesinger instead. The UCLA linebacker went just one pick after Simmons, going off the board first in the second round to the Cleveland Browns. It's been a pick that the Browns have to be proud of, as Schwesinger was crowned Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2025 after recording 156 tackles, nine QB hits, and 2.5 sacks.
Schwesinger is off to an even better start in Year 2, with 64 tackles through seven games. He's had two QB hits already and also has one sack under his belt. The kid has been incredible and could have given the Chiefs a lot of juice at linebacker that they don't have at the moment.
Nick Emmanwori in the Chiefs secondary would be amazing
Three picks after Simmons went off the board, the Seattle Seahawks selected Nick Emmanwori out of South Carolina. This pick might have seemed weird had the Chiefs made it, considering A) they desperately needed an offensive tackle and B) their secondary was still in great shape at this time.
Now, as we know, life has come at them fast in that department. Bryan Cook left for the Bengals in free agency, and Emmanwori would have been a welcome replacement. He's only in the second year of his career, and he's already looking like an elite player at safety.
Chiefs fans saw this firsthand in Week 7 when Emmanwori had an insane tackle on Kenneth Walker. He has all of the skills that Steve Spagnuolo values in his players, and had he ended up in Kansas City, that'd have almost been unfair to have the two of them working together.
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