The Kansas City Chiefs have a lot riding on Patrick Mahomes being healthy in 2026. That’s not exactly breaking news. But even if Mahomes is back to full strength after his latest injury, the team has some real problems that might not get fixed overnight.
ESPN analysts have been digging into the roster and one position keeps coming up as a potential disaster zone for the Chiefs. According to Seth Walder, the edge rusher spot opposite George Karlaftis is a major question mark. The team spent a second-round pick on R Mason Thomas this year. They’ve got Ashton Gillotte, a second-year player. And there’s Felix Anudike-Uzomah, a former first-rounder who hasn’t really popped yet.
“Regardless of who it is, the Chiefs need one of those players to emerge and become a pass-rushing threat opposite George Karlaftis,” Walder wrote. “If not, that will be a weak point for the Chiefs’ defense.”
So that’s one spot. But there’s another that might be even more concerning.
The Offensive Line Has Real Problems at Tackle
The Chiefs offensive line was flat-out bad at run blocking last season. Mike Clay did the math and it’s not pretty. Kansas City’s tackles ranked 31st in run block win rate at 70.8 percent. That’s brutal for a team that wants to be balanced.
They moved on from Jawaan Taylor, who got a four-year, $80 million deal a few years ago and never really earned it. Now they’re turning to Jaylon Moore at right tackle. Moore has been a backup for most of his career. Left tackle Josh Simmons was serviceable as a rookie in eight starts, and he was a first-round pick in 2025 so there’s hope he takes a step forward. But they also traded Wanya Morris in June, which thins out the depth.
So you’ve got a new starter on one side and a second-year guy on the other. That’s not ideal protection for a quarterback who just had surgery.
Mahomes Might Not Be Mahomes Right Away
There’s no good way to say this. Mahomes is coming off an injury and nobody knows exactly when he’ll be back to his normal self. The Chiefs haven’t confirmed a timeline but the early part of 2026 could be rough.
That means the team needs to be a complete unit for the first month or so. The defense has to hold up. The run game has to work. The offensive line can’t be a sieve. If they can survive the early schedule and get some of these young players to step up, there’s a path to the playoffs. But this is harder than what Kansas City has dealt with in recent years. And they used to have Tyreek Hill and a bunch of proven guys up front.
Now it’s a roster with questions at two critical spots. The Chiefs still have Mahomes though. That counts for a lot. But it might not count for everything in 2026.
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