One of the Kansas City Chiefs’ most promising rookies will face a trial by fire in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season. On Tuesday, Sept. 8, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid confirmed to reporters that starting left tackle Josh Simmons is unlikely to play in the Week 1 matchup against the Denver Broncos. Simmons is dealing with a back injury that has kept him out for several weeks now.

The Chiefs have seemingly been preparing for the possibility that Simmons will not be available. It remains to be seen whether he participates in any of the three practices leading up to the game. Plans could change if he returns to practice. However, until that happens, they’ve got to prepare for an alternative. Undrafted rookie offensive tackle Kahlil Benson, who signed with the team after rookie minicamp, is poised to start at left tackle for the Chiefs in Week 1.

If Benson does get the nod, the assignment will be anything but easy. He’s set to face off against one of the league’s best pass rush specialists in Broncos outside linebacker Nik Bonitto.

The Chiefs are comfortable with Kahlil Benson at left tackle

While Reid stopped short of naming Benson the starting left tackle for Week 1, he made it abundantly clear that Benson is a player the coaching staff feels comfortable with on either side of the line. If Simmons is unavailable, the team believes Benson is one of the five best offensive linemen they can put on the field.

“We’ll see where all that goes,” Reid said. “I’m not telling you that, but we’re comfortable with Kahlil (Benson) on either side. I mean, he’s been playing the left side, so feel comfortable with that. So we’ll just we’ll see. We’ll end up playing the five best guys, and right now (Kahlil Benson is) one of them.”

Benson has taken a winding path to this point. He started training camp at right tackle and opened the preseason there before shifting to right guard the following week. During the final week of the preseason, he finally got reps at left tackle. Benson has played just six snaps at left tackle for Kansas City this preseason. All of those snaps came with the starting O-Line in preseason Week 3 vs. the Seattle Seahawks. He allowed no pressures on three pass-blocking snaps, according to PFF. He also had three run-blocking snaps, which produced a 66.5 run-blocking grade.

“Yeah, so he’s a big kid that’s got good feet, and he’s strong, good hands,” Reid said of Benson. “He normally doesn’t make the same mistake twice, which I’ve mentioned before is an important quality to have. And he’s tough, so it’s just that he doesn’t have a whole lot of reps under his belt, obviously at this level, being a rookie, but he’s very willing, and you know, if he has to step in there and play, which it looks like he probably will, we feel comfortable with that.”

As much as the decision to start Benson is about his performance, it’s also about the lack of other options. Jaylon Moore will be starting opposite on the right side, but beyond that, the team’s tackle depth is still getting up to speed.

Both trade acquisitions, Diego Pounds and Joshua Ezeudu, are still catching up on the scheme ahead of the season opener. The Chiefs don’t feel comfortable putting either player out there yet, given their limited familiarity with the playbook and their arrival via trade only a week ago.

Here’s what the Chiefs can do to help Kahlil Benson in his first start

The Week 1 game plan needs to account for the Bonitto-versus-Benson matchup. That all starts with avoiding a pass-heavy attack. Kansas City invested heavily in revamping its ground game this offseason, both in personnel and coaching. If the Chiefs drop back to pass 45 times with Bonitto bearing down on an undrafted rookie, they’re going to have problems. Patrick Mahomes, coming back from a season-ending knee injury, cannot afford that kind of exposure.

The Chiefs need to get the run game going early and often, running right at Bonitto behind Benson. Beyond that, Kansas City should lean on the screen game to neutralize the pass rush. They need to allow Benson to tee off in the blocking game rather than sitting back in pass protection on every snap. That could also mean some more jet motion plays and eye candy in the backfield to slow down the pass rush.

The coaching staff will also need to scheme help on that side at times, whether it’s chip help from a tight end or a receiver in the slot, a back staying in to block, or an in-line tight end to slow down the rush off the left edge. It’s not as simple as lining up a tight end next to Benson on every snap. If that’s the short side of the field, Kansas City won’t want an extra blocker there. The Chiefs will have to shift their passing and running concepts to the right, ensuring the formation creates enough space on the left to slide a blocker next to Benson when they need to.

On the inevitable one-on-one matchups between Bonitto and Benson, Kansas City is going to have to take its lumps. There will be moments when an All-Pro player like Bonitto wins against an undrafted rookie. The coaching staff simply needs to be cognizant of those reps and use play-calling to move the pocket and get Mahomes working to his right, away from Bonitto on the left side.

The truth is that this is a massive test for Benson, but it’s also exactly the type of situation the Chiefs prepared for when they kept the versatile Indiana product on the roster. How he handles Bonitto on Monday night will go a long way toward determining his role for the rest of the season.