There was a lot of speculation leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft about the Kansas City Chiefs’ interest in solidifying the future of the offensive line by acquiring a potential starter at the right tackle position.
Seven picks and 20 undrafted free agent signings later, the team was still without a player that could be considered a right tackle now or later. It took until the crop of tryout players at rookie minicamp took the field this past weekend to identify one.
Indiana offensive tackle Kahlil Benson
was one of three tryout players signed to the Chiefs’ offseason roster after standing out among more than 70 players trying out.
Benson was the primary starting right tackle for Indiana during its 16-0 title-winning season last year. According to Pro Football Focus, he was unable to play the entirety of a handful of games, including the 27-21 victory over the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Outside of a violation of team rules that prevented him from starting against Indiana State, there are just unconfirmed reports that Benson “battled through injury last season,” potentially revealing why a 33-game collegiate starter with the athletic profile Benson has — standing at 6 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 321 pounds with 34 5/8-inch arm length — was available on a tryout basis to Kansas City.
He tore his ACL during his freshman season at Indiana, but Benson still played in all 16 games in 2025.
Benson began his college football career at Indiana before current head coach Curt Cignetti resurrected the program from one of the most dormant in the Power 5. Benson actually left when Cignetti arrived, enrolling at the University of Colorado and playing primarily right guard for the Buffaloes in 2024.
However, Benson returned to the Hoosiers leading into the 2025 season, bringing his career full circle by winning a national championship for the same school he witnessed go 4-8 during his first year on campus.
When taking a closer look at Benson as a player, it is clear to see why he was undervalued in the draft class. Despite the massive frame, there is a lot Benson needs to work on in terms of play strength, technique and potentially football IQ.
He struggles to sit low enough when engaging a pass rusher to fully absorb the contact with a stalemate; instead, the defender’s lower pad level knocks him around a bit more than you’d like to see. His hand usage is also raw, and he was taken advantage of plenty by high-profile players like Oregon defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei, who projects as a top prospect in the 2027 NFL Draft class.
Even a first-round pick in this year’s class, Rueben Bain Jr., put that lack of anchor on display from the first snap of last year’s national championship.
All that said, Benson has started for multiple schools and was called back to Indiana in 2025 to protect No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza for a reason. There’s evidence that Benson has strong football character from watching him in games.
The mentality to keep your head on a swivel and be aggressive when pass protecting may come from experience, but it should be a prerequisite to play in the NFL. It’s a good foundation to start with, having the desire to clean the clocks of oncoming defenders like this when unoccupied.
In the same game, one of Indiana’s most important wins last season, Benson shows high effort on a catastrophic play in the fourth quarter of a tough road game when leading by a touchdown. After an interception is thrown, Bennson is the only lineman to find his way towards the ball, getting hands on the defender as he crosses the goal line.
The effort stood out to me and could explain why Benson was respected as a full-season starter despite performance limitations that made him so overlooked in this year’s draft class.
He was considered a high-profile enough prospect to be ranked 29th among the offensive tackles by The Athletic’s draft expert, Dane Brugler, in his draft guide, “The Beast.” This was Brugler’s bottom-line analysis of Benson before the draft.
Overall, Benson has sloppy tendencies that he must continue to address, but his natural size and length — along with his run-game attitude — will give him a chance in a pro camp. His best long-term position is likely inside at guard.
The Chiefs likely are embracing the idea of Benson as a developmental project to be a swing tackle, based on his size, but a lot remains to be seen about the team’s only investment in the offensive tackle position this draft cycle.
