The Kansas City Chiefs have owned one of the more impressive offensive attacks in the NFL since Patrick Mahomes took over as the team's starting quarterback. Unfortunately, that prolific offense has been nowhere to be found through the opening two weeks of the 2025 season.
With Sunday night's must-win matchup against the New York Giants on the horizon, Chiefs fans have every right to be critical of the franchise's offseason decisions at the running back position. Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt have been totally ineffective thus far. Veteran free agent signing Elijah Mitchell has not recorded a statistic as of this writing, and rookie Brashard Smith isn't even part of the rotation, having one carry for two yards in two games.
It's already tough enough to win in the NFL without a solid running game to lean on. By essentially allowing defenses to focus their attention on slowing down Kansas City's passing attack, the Chiefs are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and we're not even through September yet.
Chiefs' Offseason Approach to RB Position Was Clearly a Mistake
The numbers don't lie here. There is nothing for the Chiefs to feel good about when it comes to the state of their rushing attack as we approach the end of September. When Mahomes has more than twice as many rushing yards as Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco, in addition to the team's only two touchdowns on the ground, there is clearly an issue.
Could this have been avoided by drafting a running back before the seventh round? Perhaps. Would signing anyone other than Mitchell, who didn't even play during the 2024 campaign due to a hamstring injury he suffered during the San Francisco 49ers' training camp, have been a better decision for the RB room as a whole? Almost certainly.
These moves fall directly on the shoulders of Kansas City's GM, Brett Veach, as he was the one who ultimately made the call on both players. Now, Veach has to figure out a way to clean up this mess on the fly, as it is hard to imagine a scenario where the Chiefs contend for another Super Bowl title with the rushing attack in the fold at this time.