Recent Ohio State first-rounder lauded for landing ‘difficult’ and ‘ridiculous’ plays already as rookie in NFL preseason
It hasn’t taken long for former Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons to defy expectations and win the Kansas City Chiefs’ starting job as a rookie. Simmons tore his ACL last October, and he slipped to the end of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft as teams weren’t sure if he’d miss some […]
It hasn’t taken long for former Ohio State left tackle Josh Simmons to defy expectations and win the Kansas City Chiefs’ starting job as a rookie. Simmons tore his ACL last October, and he slipped to the end of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft as teams weren’t sure if he’d miss some or all of this season. Instead, Simmons has recovered rapidly ahead of schedule and beat out $15 million per-year free-agent addition Jaylon Moore.
The big plays are coming thanks to Simmons, as well. NFL offensive line expert Brandon Thorn documented two key plays that Simmons executed on against the Houston Texans this preseason, and had choice words to describe them.
“Josh Simmons frontside kick out and overtake on the “shade”. This is one difficult block and one ridiculous block,” Thorn tweeted.
Simmons had been getting late projections as early as the Miami Dolphins’ 13th overall pick, and I thought he was a top-10 overall prospect. Coming back from a torn ACL was obviously a challenging prospect, though, and something I couldn’t account for.
It’s safe to say the best-case scenario is working out for the Chiefs, Simmons, and Buckeye fans.
Here’s a snippet from Josh Simmons’ 2025 NFL Draft scouting report.
“Truthfully, I enjoyed Simmons’s film. He has some of the best tools in this class, and his technique looked much improved from last season, particularly in pass protection. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said he might be the best pure pass protector in this tackle class.
There are some minor things to tick off and note, but it was starting to become too much of a reach to call them true “weaknesses” on his film. He dominated lower competition this season and didn’t leave a lot of doubts on the film. Had he not been injured, I have no doubt we’d be talking about him as an easy top-10 selection right now.”
