At this time last year, Kingsley Suamataia was preparing for his rookie season as a promising young offensive tackle who eventually earned himself the chance to start at left tackle Week 1 for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Fast forward to the summer of 2025, and Suamataia is again being talked about positively during offseason workouts, though at a different position.
The second-year Chiefs lineman has switched from tackle over to guard, after a rookie season where he was benched early in the year after struggling to adjust to the speed of the pass rush at the pro level.
The move to guard — which began at the end of last season — appears to be paying off for Suamataia, the former BYU and Orem High standout, and could be his answer to finding success as a pro.
“It’s going great,” Suamataia told reporters Thursday of his move to a new position. “You know, it’s a new learning step for me and a learning curve for me, just to better myself, and I just think the more positions I can learn how to play, the better, more valuable I am. So, it’s going good.”
Suamataia is competing with fourth-year pro Mike Caliendo for the starting spot at left guard. Kansas City has openings on the left side of the offensive line after trading away veteran Joe Thuney, who started at left guard in 2024 before moving over to tackle later in the year to help the Chiefs during their latest playoff push.
The 22-year-old Suamataia’s development at left guard has been one of the top storylines to watch for the Chiefs this offseason for a team that is a perennial Super Bowl contender under head coach Andy Reid.
Kansas City is finishing up organized team activities (OTAs) this week and will host the program’s mandatory minicamp next Tuesday through Thursday, followed by a break before training camp opens in July.
Kansas City’s offensive line struggled to protect the Chiefs’ MVP quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, in a humbling 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX in February. He was sacked six times in that game, and it sent the Chiefs back to the drawing board to find solutions on the offensive front.
At left tackle, that has included signing former San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Jaylon Moore to a two-year, $30 million deal this offseason and drafting Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons in the first round back in April.
At left guard, Suamataia could be the answer — Pro Football Focus recently penciled him in as the Chiefs’ starter at the position, and Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine singled him out as a potential summer breakout player for Kansas City.
“Thuney’s departure has also opened the left guard spot for competition. That’s good news for Kingsley Suamataia. To this point, he has been the prime example that throwing an early draft pick at a need doesn’t automatically address it. He was supposed to be the answer at left tackle, but it just didn’t happen,” Ballentine wrote.
“There are plenty of linemen who find a move inside rejuvenates their career, though. Suamataia will compete with Mike Caliendo for the job, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him thrive inside where his run blocking could shine.”
That move inside has been a “nice little restart,” as Suamataia put it, one that’s helped him regain confidence after a trying rookie season where he admitted being benched got him inside his own head a bit.
“Just being aggressive right off the get-go, I love that,” he said of what he likes about the move from tackle to guard. “Just being right in contact.”
Suamataia praised the culture in Kansas City — along with his teammates and coaches — for being able to help him work through the struggles.
“You’re just taking it day-by-day, man. You know, I went in with a great attitude every day to work,” Suamataia told the Deseret News ahead of February’s Super Bowl, of the culture in Kansas City. “And you can’t really not go in with a good mentality to work because you have guys that have that championship mentality.”
That’s a sentiment that is holding strong with the young, talented lineman during the summer.
“It’s a big trust component, just being thrown in out there at guard, a new position,” Suamataia said. “But you know, (I) gotta put my best foot forward every day.
“You know, I’m blocking for the best player in the NFL behind me. So, I take a lot of pride in that, moving into a guard with a new opportunity.”
One of the blessings in disguise from the move to left guard has been that Suamataia matches up against All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones often on the practice field.
“First of all, he’s got experience, and then he looks more comfortable there,” Reid said Thursday of Suamataia’s transition to guard. “He seems to be picking it up pretty well, not that we’re going full speed contact, but he has an opportunity to go against Chris (Jones), and that will surely help him for this season.”
Suamataia, in reflecting on his first NFL season, understands how the pro game works — it’s not just about physical strength, but also must involve a strong work ethic and mental fortitude to work through things when times get tough.
He’s confident the process has made him stronger.
“That’s just how the league goes and, you know, one guy goes down, the next guy (has) to come in and put his best foot forward,” Suamataia said. “That (allowed me) to (take) my time as a player, just to put my head down and keep working until I got put in at guard later on in the season, and, you know, fell in love with it.”
His offseason work has included returning to Utah and working with his trainers there, as well as focusing on things like the playbook and fundamentals with his Chiefs coaches.
“I’m taking full advantage of it, the fresh start,” he said.
