Chiefs Training Camp Takeaways Day 1: Josh Simmons impresses at left tackle, Chamarri Conner flashing in key role
The Kansas City Chiefs officially kicked off Day 1 of training camp in St. Joseph, Missouri, on Tuesday, July 22. This practice was exclusively for Chiefs season ticket members, with Wednesday's practice fully open to the public. Still, despite being an exclusive practice, Chiefs team president Mark Donovan revealed that fans were lined up as early […]
The Kansas City Chiefs officially kicked off Day 1 of training camp in St. Joseph, Missouri, on Tuesday, July 22.
This practice was exclusively for Chiefs season ticket members, with Wednesday's practice fully open to the public. Still, despite being an exclusive practice, Chiefs team president Mark Donovan revealed that fans were lined up as early as 2:00 a.m. CT, just like they do ahead of gamedays at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
The team had virtually full attendance at practice, except for the three players who will begin training camp on the Active/PUP list. Of those three players, Kristian Fulton and Jawaan Taylor were spotted in the injury tent without helmets ahead of practice, working on rehab on the sidelines.
Chiefs' top draft pick Josh Simmons impresses as first-team left tackle
The offseason hype for Josh Simmons continued to grow at the first training camp practice, with the caveat that we're still going through padless practices. He began training camp as starting left tackle with the first-team unit's offensive line, which was as follows:
- LT Josh Simmons
- LG Kingsley Suamataia
- C Creed Humphrey
- RG Trey Smith
- RT Jaylon Moore.
I'm told that Simmons and Moore both practiced left/right side footwork during the individual period ahead of team drills, but it appears that Simmons is the guy to start camp. We'll see if they make any changes as we go and as Jawaan Taylor recovers, but it's looking promising for the rookie as things stand.
Arrowhead Pride's Caleb James caught this video of Simmons in individual work.
"He did some good things," Chiefs HC Andy Reid said. "He worked in there with the ones and did a nice job, I thought. He has some things to work on, but he'll keep doing that."
In 11-on-11 team drills, I'm told Simmons looked just as smooth in pass protection as he did in the above drill. He had a few minor miscues that could be chalked up to first-day nerves, but it's not going to be perfect right away, according to Chiefs RG Trey Smith, who earned a starting job as a rookie back in 2021.
"Just apply everything you can to your game," Smith said of his advice to Simmons. "It's a marathon, not a sprint. Everything is not going to come at once. It's going to take time to develop those habits. St. Joe's is one of the hardest training camps in the NFL. It's going to be miserable every single day, and you just get used to it, but at the end of the day, you've just got to keep fighting, you've got to keep punching, you've got to keep swinging day after day after day, and just keep stacking and keep building. And when the season comes around, you're ready, you know?"
The truth is that we won't honestly know what Simmons looks like at left tackle until the pads come on and the defensive line can really pin their ears back, but early indications are that he has what it takes to be a high-level starter for Kansas City.
Chamarri Conner gets the first nod at Chiefs' nickel corner job
While all eyes are on the left tackle and left guard positions on offense, the defense also has a notable training camp battle at the cornerback position. Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson are a given when it comes to base personnel, but when the Chiefs go to their sub-package defense with a slot cornerback on the field, who will be the third player on the field?
Conner was the first player to get repetitions alongside Watson and McDuffie, and capitalized on those opportunities in practice No. 1. Conner was in the right place at the right time during 7-on-7 team drills at practice, as captured by FOX 4 Kansas City anchor Harold R. Kuntz.
Spags had this to say about Conner back in June:
“I think Chamarri is having a really good offseason. This is his (third) year in the system, and he’s doing really good in it. I think he’s valuable. I mean, he’s been playing nickel, he’s been playing both safety spots. You saw today, every once in a while Trent (McDuffie) slips inside (the slot) there, and Chamarri will go in there too. He’s one of those guys I think that needs to be on the field for us. We’ll just have to find out, based on the other pieces, where he most of his snaps will be.”
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Early indications are that the bulk of his snaps will come in the slot, with McDuffie working outside at cornerback. We'll see how things shake out as training camp progresses and when Kristian Fulton returns to the lineup healthy.
3 quick hitters from Day 1 of Chiefs training camp
Nikko Remigio with the play of the day on offense (and he needs it)
According to Chiefs team reporter Matt McMullen, Remigio had the play of the day on Tuesday with a deep reception down the seam during 11-on-11 drills. It's unclear and doesn't quite matter whether it was with the first-team, second-team, or third-team offense. Remigio needs to become trusted on offense in addition to his special teams role if he's to make the 53-man roster in this competitive wide receiver room.
Pre-snap motion back on the menu
I was told this offseason that the Chiefs wanted to make a concerted effort to get back to some of their offensive roots from Patrick Mahomes' most successful seasons. You might have noticed in some of the clips from 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 team drills that there were numerous pre-snap motion actions, with running backs lining up wide and motioning into the backfield, or receivers motioning out of the backfield and lining up all over the formation. Expect a lot more pre-snap motion during the 2025 NFL season.
Rashee Rice's return
As Andy Reid indicated, Rashee Rice got his usual dose of work to kick off training camp despite the expectation that he'll be suspended to start the season. According to ESPN's Nate Taylor, Rice finished practice as Patrick Mahomes' most-targeted receiver. He was most active working across the middle of the field on crossing routes and in the red zone.