The Kansas City Chiefs treated their home crowd at Arrowhead Stadium to a dominant regular-season opener Monday night, and their 2026 rookie class led the way with some impressive NFL debuts.
It started early, as first-round pick Mansoor Delane picked off an errant Bo Nix pass on the first drive, quickly flipping the field and helping the Chiefs get on the board first. There’s a reason the Chiefs moved up three spots to land him at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft, and he wasted little time making that look like a smart move.
Delane injured his shoulder at the end of the return on that pick and didn’t return, but his fellow rookies made up for the absence of their top-10 pick out of LSU.
R Mason Thomas, a second-round pick out of Oklahoma, was a constant nuisance for Nix and the Denver offensive line, providing consistent pressure and bagging the first sack of his NFL career. His polished pass-rushing moves and nonstop motor were always evident on his college tape for the Sooners, and that’s exactly what Chiefs fans saw Monday night.
On the other side of the ball, the absence of recent first-round pick Josh Simmons due to a back injury forced Kahlil Benson into the starting lineup at left tackle. Despite being an undrafted free agent, Benson held his own all night long against one of the league’s best defensive fronts, keeping Patrick Mahomes clean and allowing the Chiefs to rack up 31 points in a blowout victory over their AFC West rivals.
While it was Kenneth Walker III who stole the show for the offense, that didn’t keep rookie running back Emmett Johnson from making his own mark on Monday night’s win. The fifth-round pick out of Nebraska made the most of his opportunities to touch the ball in the second half, turning 10 touches into 68 total yards. His physical running style was evident throughout the game, as Johnson broke multiple tackles almost every time he got his hands on the ball, making the Broncos pay for anything less than perfect tackling technique.
The Chiefs are coming off a disappointing season that was marked by injuries and inconsistency, and heading into this season, it was hard to know what to expect from a team built around an aging core with an influx of young talent that would have to pull its weight if the team wanted to get back into the Super Bowl conversation.
If Monday night’s performance is any indication, that youth movement is more than ready to rise to the challenge, and it won’t be surprising if they play a massive role in getting the Chiefs back to the playoffs and contending for a championship this year and beyond.
