With Spencer Ware going down for the year with a knee injury, the Kansas City Chiefs are turning to rookie running back Kareem Hunt to carry the load in 2017.
You never want to hear about a starting player for your team being lost for he year in preseason. That’s what Kansas City Chiefs fans went through this past weekend when starting running back Spencer Ware was lost for the year with a knee injury. However, this unfortunate injury does open the door for rookie running back Kareem Hunt to play a bigger role.
Early into his NFL career, Kareem Hunt has impressed many in Kansas City. The rookie running back had already earned the top backup job, and it was thought he would split a lot of the starting time with Spencer Ware. Now it appears that Hunt will get the lion’s share of the work in the Chiefs backfield.
That is nothing new for Kareem Hunt, who was the featured back at Toledo throughout most of his time in college. Hunt was a “do everything back” for the Rockets, and consistently performed at a very high level. It was enough to catch my eye and make Hunt my favorite prospect during our work up to the 2017 NFL Draft.
Kareem Hunt is making a strong push for playing time with his performances so far this preseason pic.twitter.com/87IJrUvouX
— PFF (@PFF) August 25, 2017
The Chiefs May Be In Good Hands
The running back tradition of the Kansas City Chiefs is maybe the best in the NFL. For whatever reason, the Chiefs have always been good at rounding up running backs to put in the mix. Remember that Jamaal Charles was a third round backup to Larry Johnson when he got his chance. Kareem Hunt is now next in line.
As far as that goes, I personally think that Chiefs fans should be excited. Kareem Hunt is the kind of running back that can be used in a variety of ways. Hunt has good vision and quickness to find and exploit running lanes. He is also a reliable receiver out of the backfield, as well as a decent pass protector.
Kareem Hunt has big play ability, but is also very good at picking up short yardage situations. We have already seen that Hunt is very tough to bring down, and doesn’t give up easily. It isn’t an outrageous thought that he could have become the feature back during the course of the season anyways.
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Fantasy Football Impact
For those of you that haven’t had their Fantasy Football draft yet, Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt should now be very high on your list. Hunt will get a full workload in a run-first offense. The Chiefs also love to get their running backs involved in the passing game. That means Hunt should get a ton of touches.
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This will also put a bit of a spotlight on the Chiefs backfield. Several fantasy experts have already started calling Kareem Hunt a rookie of the year candidate, at least for fantasy purposes. That would indicate that a lot of people have confidence in his ability to put up a lot of yards, and to find the end zone. That’s good news for the Chiefs.
This isn’t an ideal situation for the Chiefs, but it may have created an opportunity for the team to get a guy with a lot of potential into the mix. Kareem Hunt is certainly the future at the Kansas City running back position. Now he is also a major player in the present situation.
The Kansas City Chiefs have always been able to rely on the running game. It’s unfortunate that the team won’t have Spencer Ware this year. However, this does give Kareem Hunt the opportunity to show what he can do. There is plenty of reason for Chiefs Kingdom to be excited about that.