Kansas City Chiefs: Fans want Kareem Hunt to get rushing title

With their playoff spot locked up, the Kansas City Chiefs will be resting key players today. However, Chiefs Kingdom wants to see Kareem Hunt get the rushing title.

Andy Reid likes to give his starters a break when they have a meaningless Week 17 game. So most of the key players for the Kansas City Chiefs won’t see the field much, if at all, this week. However, it would appear that many Chiefs fans are willing to see Kareem Hunt on the field some today if it means he can win the NFL rushing title.

Kareem Hunt has already had a record setting rookie season to begin his Chiefs career. However, as it stands, Hunt would likely finish second in the league in rushing. With a tight rookie of the year race going on, winning the NFL rushing title would likely push him over the top.

The possibility of Kareem Hunt setting such a mark as a rookie has many in Chiefs Kingdom excited. It’s not something you see happen very often. The list of players to do it is pretty impressive. Jim Brown, Eric Dickerson, and Earl Campbell are among the 13 players to have led the league in rushing as a rookie, going back to 1932.

There For The Taking

The circumstances seem to be lining up just right for the Kansas City Chiefs rookie running back. As it stands, Kareem Hunt is second in the NFL in rushing with 1292. That is just 13 yards behind Todd Gurley, and just one ahead of Le’Veon Bell. However, it has already been confirmed that both Gurley and Bell are not playing this weekend.

That means if Kansas City were to play Kareem Hunt this weekend, he would only have to get 14 yards to become the NFL’s leading rusher. It would also be very unlikely that anyone else could catch him. The next closest player is LeSean McCoy with 1128 yards. he would have to have an incredible day to catch Hunt.

To be honest, it shouldn’t take much for Kareem Hunt to hit his mark. The Kansas City offensive line has been getting tremendous push recently. At the same time, the Denver defense doesn’t have much to play for. Hunt could probably get his yards before the end of the first quarter if the Chiefs committed to running the ball.

Is It Worth The Risk?

Of course, with every play that the Kansas City Chiefs put Kareem Hunt out there for, there is the risk of injury. Hunt is a major piece of the Chiefs offense right now, and they have no way of replacing him in the playoffs. If you’re thinking logically, there is absolutely no way he should be on the field.

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On top of that, Kansas City has a long history with the Denver Broncos, and almost none of it is amiable. We’ve seen plenty of examples in the past of Broncos players actually trying to injure someone in a Chiefs uniform (and yes, vice versa). That is absolutely something that has to be taken into account.

Then again, it’s just 14 more yards to earn a huge honor for Kareem Hunt. The Chiefs have had two players lead the league in rushing before, Christian Okoye and Priest Holmes. However, this would be the first time they had a rookie earn the honor. So while all logic says no, just about every emotion says yes.

We’ll see which way Andy Reid leans soon.

With the season locked up, it’s time for the Kansas City Chiefs to rest their starters for the playoffs. However, if Kareem Hunt can earn the NFL rushing title this year, that would be just one more feather in the cap for this team. That might even lead to a little bit more momentum in the postseason. Of course, it could lead to other things too.