Kansas City Chiefs: Running backs will have larger role in 2018

By Travis Steffen | Jul 1, 2018

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(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

Kerwynn Willams

Kerwynn Williams has spent the last four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals as a third running back and primary kick/punt return specialist. His return abilities might be what get him a spot on the roster as the Chiefs want to limit how often wide receiver Tyreek Hill spends returning kicks. Kerwynn is not the playmaker that Hill is by any means, but if he wants a spot on this roster, he will likely have to be a heavy special teams contributor.

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Arizona’s offense was supposed to be centered around star running back David Johnson in 2017. Unfortunately, Johnson went down with a season-ending injury. The Cardinals tried to bring in Adrian Peterson to fill the void, but he ended up getting hurt as well and proved to be not as explosive as he once was. That left Kerwynn Williams to take the starting role at the end of the season.

During the final five games of the season with Kerwynn leading the backfield, he ran for 357 yards which averaged 71.4 yards per game. While those aren’t alarming numbers, he was also playing in an offense that had very little hope.

Standing at 5’8″ and 198 pounds, Williams is an interesting prospect for Kansas City. While his size would suggest another third down back that can catch out of the backfield, he has the ability to run the ball as well. I would still prefer Darrel Williams over Kerwynn, however.

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To be honest, if the Chiefs are going to carry over four running backs this season like I think they should, I would stick to Hunt, Ware, West, and Darrel Williams. Kerwynn and Damien Williams don’t bring anything to the table that the Chiefs don’t already have.

West is a solid third-down back and would provide great blocking. If Ware can stay healthy in a limited role, I think he could be the best backup to Hunt. Darrel Williams brings another powerful runner in case Ware is unable to stay healthy.

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