Kansas City Chiefs: Kareem Hunt is carrying the load

Any uncertainty for the Kansas City Chiefs at running back has been completely wiped away. Kareem Hunt has emerged as a premier back for KC.

Early on, there had to be some worry among Kansas City Chiefs fans that we were wrong about Kareem Hunt. The rookie running back found some tough sledding against the Eagles on Sunday. Then Hunt busted out a huge touchdown run, and all was right in the world again. The Chiefs clearly have their feature running back.

In just two games this season, Kareem Hunt has already established himself as a force to be accounted for. That’s great news for the Chiefs as their offense relies heavily on the running game. It should be no surprise that KC struggled to move the ball in the first half while the ground attack wasn’t moving.

Kareem Hunt has taken well to the premier back role. He is a locomotive out of the backfield, refusing to go down on first contact. Hunt has also emerged as a solid pass-catching threat, which has been a staple of the Chiefs offense in recent years. All in all, it appears as though KC has their next big time running back.

A Proud History

For whatever reason, running the football is just something that the Kansas City Chiefs seem to be able to do well. The tradition of running backs in Kansas City goes back quite a ways, and includes some of the best to have ever played the position.

You can go all the way back to 1960 and Abner Haynes to see how strong the running back position has been for the Chiefs. Since then, you have names like Barry Word, Christian Okoye, Marcus Allen, Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, and Jamaal Charles. That is a ton of talent for one position group.

Related Story: Kansas City Chiefs Scouting Report: Kareem Hunt

It may still be too early to put Kareem Hunt up there with those names, but he’s quickly eliminating any reason to not include him. Already Hunt is rewriting the NFL history books, having set rookie rushing marks in each of his first two games.

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It seems like most Kansas City Chiefs fans have already forgotten about the injury to Spencer Ware. That isn’t a slight to Ware, but rather a testament to how impressive Kareem Hunt has been. It is not a stretch to say that Hunt has been the spark the Chiefs needed in each of their first two games.

Don’t get me wrong, Alex Smith has been pretty impressive so far this season. However, we saw this past week that Smith still needs a solid running game to help keep the pressure off. Kareem Hunt has stepped up and provided that.

Expect opponents to key in on Kareem Hunt even more as we move forward. Hopefully that will allow Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill to get open more. Even if the Chiefs move to throwing the ball more, you can bet that it is because the running game is viewed as such a threat.

That is all Kareem Hunt right now.

The Kansas City Chiefs are going to be in the thick of the playoff talk early on this year. The Chiefs have knocked off a couple of tough opponents to start the season. A lot of that has to do with the play of Kareem Hunt at running back. As long as he keeps running the rock well, Kansas City will will be a tough team to deal with.