{"id":51029,"date":"2025-04-26T10:58:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T10:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=51029"},"modified":"2025-04-26T10:58:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T10:58:38","slug":"tom-krasovic-aztecs-deserve-the-assist-for-chiefs-first-round-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=51029","title":{"rendered":"Tom Krasovic: Aztecs deserve the assist for Chiefs\u2019 first-round selection"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Good for San Diego\u2019s Josh Simmons, now a Kansas City Chief.<\/p>\n

Bravo for Helix High School and Madison High School, his prep alma maters.<\/p>\n

Is it not also a win for San Diego State that it too can bask in the glow of Kansas City selecting Simmons on Thursday night, with the final pick of the NFL draft\u2019s first round?<\/p>\n

Yes, it is a win. Lower-case w.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also, through no fault of the Aztecs, it\u2019s something of a loss.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with Simmons himself. Speaking to his resilience, he overcame a severe injury. Going 32nd was a big triumph for the former Aztecs starter at left tackle.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs excel at developing blockers. That goes back to their hire of Andy Reid, the team\u2019s head coach and offensive mastermind since 2013. Reid played tackle for BYU and coached in two Super Bowls under Mike Holmgren, a master of the West Coast offense who\u2019d assisted Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh.<\/p>\n

Reid\u2019s emphasis on mobility (more so than bulk) and misdirection is a boon to blockers. Rich Moran, a former Aztecs guard who played for Holmgren\u2019s Packers,\u00a0touted the Holmgren-Reid system long before Reid led Kansas City to five of the past six Super Bowls.<\/p>\n

Landing in the draft\u2019s first round will bring Simmons extra rewards.\u00a0The pay is much\u00a0bigger, and all of the money \u2013 $14.7 million, in Simmons\u2019 case \u2013 is fully guaranteed.<\/p>\n

How talented is Simmons? The Chiefs are trusting him to protect the blindside of Patrick Mahomes, despite the\u00a0tackle\u2019s season-ending knee-tendon injury suffered in October.<\/p>\n

SDSU can recruit players by saying Simmons built a football foundation in his two years on campus amid difficult circumstances. When the agile former high school offensive guard and defensive end chose SDSU over several big-name programs, he hadn\u2019t played since 2019, with Madison, due to the pandemic cancelling his 2020 season with Helix. The Aztecs helped him have a productive redshirt year and start 13 games in 2022 under line coach Mike Goff, a longtime NFL starter at guard.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t see the rest of Simmons\u2019 college story as a win for San Diego State. Here\u2019s why: In today\u2019s freewheeling college football industry, the Aztecs served as a farm team by developing Simmons for a higher-level program. Ohio State saw the fluidity of the 6-foot-5, 305-pound tackle and persuaded him to transfer to Columbus entering the 2023 season. He started 19 games with the Buckeyes, who won this past season\u2019s national title. The NFL riches that Simmons tapped into Thursday night will be linked formemost to his tenure at Ohio State, an established NFL finishing school for prospects.<\/p>\n

While SDSU benefited from signing and developing Simmons, it ultimately served as a springboard to big-boy college ball.<\/p>\n

Same as it ever was?<\/p>\n

Not quite.<\/p>\n

Previous football eras were friendlier to San Diego State\u2019s upside.<\/p>\n

Before college football made it easy for players to transfer and to get paid legally by a program\u2019s supporters, schools had the upper hand when it came to retaining players for several years.\u00a0So when the Aztecs signed a high school recruit of Simmons caliber, it was far less likely that an Ohio State could persuade\u00a0him to transfer.<\/p>\n

To appreciate the profound differences, consider SDSU football\u2019s top era of football relevance (not the same as win-loss performance).<\/p>\n

In the early 1990s, many Aztecs football games attracted both large crowds to Mission Valley and sizable broadcast audiences.<\/p>\n

Young folks, get this: those crowds were much bigger than the seating capacity (32,500) of SDSU\u2019s current home, Snapdragon Stadium.<\/p>\n

What led 40,000 to 55,000 fans to attend SDSU\u2019s games, such as the 31-31 thriller against glamorous USC, the 52-52 tie against high-flying BYU and the 30-28 loss to third-ranked Miami?<\/p>\n

The Aztecs rolled out exciting future NFL starters who, crucially, were all but certain to remain with SDSU for three-plus years.<\/p>\n

The 1992 SDSU team featured a future Pro Football Hall of Famer in running back Marshall Faulk, a future first-round receiver in Darnay Scott and a future All-Pro and Hall of Fame All-2000s team defensive tackle in La\u2019Roi Glover.<\/p>\n

Not bad, huh?<\/p>\n

SDSU was able to keep Faulk, Scott and Glover for at least three years.<\/p>\n

Faulk, from New Orleans, and Scott, from San Diego\u2019s Kearny High School, played three years under coach Al Luginbill. Glover, a Point Loma High School graduate, played four seasons, two coming under Ted Tollner.<\/p>\n

NCAA rules made such continuity much more attainable.<\/p>\n

(Similarly, Scott had seen Aztecs receiver and Lincoln High School graduate Patrick Rowe spend four seasons with SDSU before going in the second round of the 1992 draft to Bill Belichick\u2019s Browns. As an Aztecs junior, Rowe had a big game against Miami and led the nation with 126.5 receiving yards per game.)<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s open-bidding, easy-transfer world, a\u00a0spectacular freshman season like Faulk\u2019s would\u2019ve attracted college offers worth millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

SDSU was able to be patient with Simmons and keep him close to family. As impressive as he was, losing a season to the pandemic may have steepened his learning curve. Whistled for false starts, he was the team\u2019s most-penalized offensive lineman in his lone season.<\/p>\n

Ohio State reaped rewards from those growing pains.<\/p>\n

Simmons\u2019 selection by the Chiefs will further encourage the Buckeyes and other powerhouses to poach players from SDSU and other lower-profile schools.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s long been a food chain in college football. Though the industry has become more fair to players, deservedly so, it also has become more ruthless, and SDSU\u2019s place in it was starkly evident Thursday night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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