Kansas City Chiefs need to improve at running back in 2020

The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs sit in an enviable position in the league as they have few needs that need to be addressed to remain competitive.

Thanks to Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, and a few other key star players scattered throughout various positions, the Kansas City Chiefs don’t need to do anything dramatic. There are, of course, holes that need to be addressed however.

The Chiefs currently need to improve at cornerback, linebacker, the interior of the offensive line, and could stand to get more depth at receiver (assuming Sammy Watkins doesn’t return). These deficiencies can be covered with average players though.

The one place Kansas City could stand to upgrade more significantly at is running back. The Chiefs have had a lot of talented running backs the last 20 years including Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Jamaal Charles, and Kareem Hunt.

Recently though this has not been the case.

2019 was a revolving door at running back, which can be summed up with the fact Patrick Mahomes led the team in rushing for two playoff games. Kansas City will need more clarity at this position in 2020, but how they do that is the tough part.

Let’s take a look at the current state of the Chiefs running back room and what they can do to improve it.

The Chiefs backfield right now is made up of Damien Williams, Darwin Thompson, and Darrel Williams. Darrel Williams has not made it through an entire season being healthy and when he has been on the field has contributed very little. Thompson has shown some flashes in his short career, but nothing to assume he is more than a depth guy at this time.

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Damien Williams, on the other hand, is a more interesting story. For the second consecutive season, Williams had a big postseason scoring six touchdowns and averaging 4.3 yards per carry. That being said, those numbers are a bit misleading on what was an underwhelming season.

To start with, Williams spent most of the season banged up. He did rush for 498 yards on 111 carries (4.5 yards per carry), but when you factor in that 175 of those yards came on two carries, his overall body of work is far less impressive.

This isn’t meant to be a hit piece on Damien Williams though. Williams is a fine player and is really good in the pass game. He’s the ideal player for the Chiefs offense, but is really more of a number two guy.

If the Chiefs can find a lead back and use Williams in a complementary role, they will have one of the strongest backfields in the NFL. The issue though is how they go about this.

Last year, Kansas City tried to upgrade with veteran players. First they tried Carlos Hyde, but he was traded after a disappointing training camp and LeSean McCoy becoming available who had ties with Andy Reid.

McCoy started out playing at a solid level and looked to be the RB1, but his play collapsed as the season went on and he didn’t even suit up for the end of the season. In a last-ditch attempt, the Chiefs brought in Spencer Ware, who played decently for a short stint before a shoulder injury ended his season.

Some thought the Chiefs would take this approach again with Todd Gurley, but with him signing with the Falcons, the only veteran option currently on the market they might consider is Devonta Freeman (who previously played in Atlanta).

To this point, the Chiefs haven’t expressed any interest in Freeman, so that makes him coming to KC unlikely. They could also be waiting on another back to get cut like what we saw with McCoy last year. That being said, it didn’t work out last time, which might make the team a bit wary of this approach.

That leaves the draft as the last option. As of right now, Kansas City has five picks and each of their first three picks are at the end of their respective round. In a perfect world, Brett Veach would like to trade out of the first round to get an additional pick later in the draft.

Regardless if they’re picking at the end of the first or the early part of the second, I find it very unlikely the Chiefs would take a running back that early. There are a lot of analytics about why taking a running back that early is a bad idea, and with the recent history of teams finding solid backs later in the draft, it just isn’t a good use of the limited picks Kansas City has.

The Chiefs have also used their top picks in recent drafts to acquire the best player available as opposed to need. The more likely scenario is that the Chiefs move up from their spot in the third round to get a running back.

We’ve seen it a lot recently, as the Chiefs moved up on day two to secure a player. They did it 2017 with Kareem Hunt, 2018 with Breeland Speaks, and last year with Mecole Hardman. Look for a player like J.K. Dobbins or Clyde Edwards-Helaire to be the target if they fall to the third round.

Must Read. Top 15 Leaders in Rushing Yards All-Time. light

The Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of interesting moves to make before the 2020 season begins. They still have room to improve on defense and need to do some things on the offensive line.

With so many possibilities come draft day, it really is a mystery what the Chiefs end up doing. That being said one position the Chiefs absolutely need to consider upgrading in a meaningful way before the season begins is running back and there’s no better time to do that then through the draft

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