Published
May 28, 2026 at 12:02 PM EDT
updated
May 28, 2026 at 12:03 PM EDT
June is about to kick into full gear, and NFL teams are starting to get back together and prep for their new seasons. It’s an exciting, but understated, time on the NFL calendar, and it’s a good time to study each team’s current lineup.
For the Kansas City Chiefs, they have to rebound this upcoming season. Not contending for a championship is simply not acceptable.
In a feature for NFL.com out on Tuesday, May 26, Gennaro Filice names the most underrated players in the AFC heading into the new season. “In a 32-team league with 53-man rosters, it’s impossible to properly praise all quality contributors,” he states. “But as we head into summer — the NFL’s slow season — it’s a perfect time to check some of those boxes.”
For the Chiefs, he names left guard Kingsley Suamataia as a sleeper hit.
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“This man received too much hate in Year 1 and too little love in Year 2,” he notes in the piece of the team’s 63rd overall pick in 2024. After the draft, “Suamataia was immediately tasked with guarding Patrick Mahomes’ blind side as a 21-year-old rookie. He was in over his head, lasting just two games as Kansas City’s starting left tackle before hitting the bench and becoming a whipping boy for all of the team’s protection problems.”
He adds: “But after the Chiefs addressed OT last offseason in free agency and the draft, Suamataia permanently moved over a spot and won the starting job at left guard. He looked much better inside, starting all 17 games to provide some positive vibrations in the franchise’s worst year of the Andy Reid era.”
My Take: Kingsley Suamataia Deserves a Second Chance
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Sometimes, first impressions mean too much, and that was really the case with Suamataia. He was given too much responsibility out of the gate, and that may have cemented him in a certain way with the Chiefs fanbase. But, he really took a leap in his second year with the team, and Suamataia will likely build on that in 2026. He’s a player to watch.
