3 Moves Chiefs Need to Make During Week 6 Bye
By Jovan Alford
The back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs enter the Week 6 bye as one of the last two undefeated teams in the NFL. The Chiefs picked up their fifth consecutive win in Week 5 over the New Orleans Saints.
Kansas City hasn’t had the best start to the season as they dealt with a few injuries at running back and wide receiver. However, the Chiefs continue to find a way to win, getting good play from the defense and unexpected contributions from players such as Kareem Hunt and Juju Smith-Schuster.
That said, the bye week presents a great opportunity for the Chiefs to rest up and for the front office to make decisions about various positions on the 53-man roster. Below, we’ll discuss a few moves Kansas City needs to make during the bye before getting back in action in Week 7.
1. Consider Trading One of Their Running Backs
The Chiefs’ backfield will eventually get crowded when they officially activate former first-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire off the NFI list.
Without Edwards-Helaire and Isiah Pacheco, the Chiefs have leaned on Kareem Hunt, Carson Steele, and Samaje Perine. Among those three running backs, Hunt has stood out over the last two games against the Los Angeles Chargers and Saints.
In the Chiefs’ Week 5 win over the Saints, Hunt had 102 rushing yards and a touchdown on 27 carries. Then in Week 4 against the Chargers, the veteran running back had 69 rushing yards and 16 receiving yards.
If Hunt keeps this up, the Chiefs will likely keep him on the 53-man roster. However, KC will have to decide to keep Steele or Perine. Perine could be the odd man out as Hunt is a solid pass-catcher out of the backfield.
Perine has 91 yards from scrimmage and a rushing touchdown in five games with Kansas City. He’s also only played 27% of offensive snaps, coincidentally the same number as the rookie Steele.
The Chiefs can’t afford to cut Steele and subject him to waivers because another team will pick him up. At least with Perine, Kansas City could get some type of draft compensation in return for Perine.