With the Kansas City Chiefs’ running game struggling to get on track to start the season, some fans have dreamed of the team possibly trading for New Orleans Saints star RB Alvin Kamara or Miami Dolphins RB Devon Achane.
Both Kamara and Achane would be massive upgrades, making this Chiefs’ offense that much more explosive. But Chiefs head coach Andy Reid poured cold water on those dreams with his comments on Monday about KC’s running game following Kansas City’s dominating win over the Baltimore Ravens.
“If one guy is off, there’s a problem. The more these guys play together, it should improve as we go. You’ve got some guys in there … just more game reps are important on that," Reid said via Charles Goldman of AtoZ Sports.
Based on Reid’s comments, it seems like he’s not ready to make any drastic changes to the RB room and instead wants to find some type of consistency with the ground he already has.
Andy Reid Not Worried About Making Urgent Fix to Chiefs’ Running Game
The Chiefs' head coach is correct in his assessment of the run game, even if fans don’t want to hear it. For example, if someone on the offensive line misses their blocking assignment, it could be the difference between a two-yard gain and a potential 10-yard run.
In Sunday’s win over the Ravens, the Chiefs had 118 rushing yards as a team. However, Xavier Worthy was their leading rusher with 38 yards on two carries, which is not what the Chiefs had in mind.
Isiah Pacheco had 35 yards on seven carries (5.0 YPC), while Kareem Hunt added 34 yards on 13 carries (2.6 YPC). Lastly, rookie Brashard Smith posted nine yards on four carries (2.3 YPC), but was more effective as a receiver with three receptions (four targets) for 27 yards.
While Chiefs fans were content to see Pacheco pick up where he left off in Week 3 against the Giants, Kansas City’s running game still leaves much to be desired. The Chiefs are ranked 19th in rushing, averaging 110.5 yards per game through four games.
However, it's not an exciting 110.5 rushing yards per game. That's caused fans to openly day dream about the team adding a big name to overhaul this unit.
Alvin Kamara, who is wasting away on the 0-4 New Orleans Saints, sticks out as one obvious target if New Orleans becomes a seller at the deadline. Meanwhile, the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins are both 0-3 entering Monday night, and they each have an RB (Breece Hall, Devon Achane) who'd bring playmaking potential to KC's backfield that it currently lacks.
The Chiefs have a tough matchup in Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have the fourth-best rushing defense through four weeks (82.8 YPG allowed). This could be the test Reid needs to wake up and realize his current crop isn't built to hang with the talented units they'll see down the line in the playoffs.