It's been seven years since the Kansas City Chiefs had a 1,000-yard running back. Their running game has been one of the least efficient and least explosive in the league in recent years, to the point that their two leading backs failed to average 4.5 yards per carry.
As a team, the Chiefs rushed for 1,812 yards, the eighth-worst mark in the league last season. They averaged a pedestrian 4.2 yards per carry, though Patrick Mahomes' scrambles had plenty to do with that. They also had the fewest 20+ yard runs in the league (3).
Notably, that didn't stop the Detroit Lions from signing Isiah Pacheco early in free agency. And if that move wasn't questionable enough, they've now hosted Kareem Hunt for a workout amid some depth concerns. Didn't they learn anything?
The Chiefs' running game should be exponentially better in 2026
Pacheco has barely done anything since he arrived in Detroit. He's been pretty banged up, and while he's still slated to be their RB2 behind Jahmyr Gibbs, the fact that they also brought Hunt in for a workout suggests Pacheco's injury might be more serious than expected.
Maybe Detroit wants to run similar blocking schemes, and Hunt will be a seamless fit as a goal-line merchant. Then again, with their concerns in the interior of the offensive line, and judging by how the Pacheco-Hunt tandem fared last season, this is pretty laughable.
The Chiefs struggled to get much going on the ground when Matt Nagy was there. Now that Eric Bieniemy is back, the running game should continue to be one of the points of emphasis, especially with Patrick Mahomes just coming back from the first major injury of his career.
The Chiefs signed reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III as their biggest offseason addition, and he looks poised to break the team's spell and finally rush for at least 1,000 yards. Someone like Bieniemy can certainly bring out the best in him.
Like the Lions, the Chiefs are a team looking to bounce back from their most disappointing season in recent years and prove that their Super Bowl window is still wide open. But unlike their NFC North counterparts, they've seemed to have learned from their previous mistakes, at least to a degree.
With Emari Demercado, Brashard Smith, and rookie Emmett Johnson rounding up the running back corps, Mahomes may finally have something to lean on and won't have to do all of the heavy lifting himself.
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