The Kansas City Chiefs have their backup quarterback after striking a trade with the New York Jets early Monday to land Justin Fields. As different as the quarterback might be from Patrick Mahomes' play style, it is a savvy addition that could unlock a piece of Kansas City's offense that has been long dormant. Rewind to the 2019 season, and you will find the reason Patrick Mahomes is no longer allowed to run quarterback sneaks. The star dislocated his kneecap on a sneak against the Denver Broncos, and ever since the play has fallen out of Kansas City's playbook.
However, this hasn't stopped Mahomes from doing what he had to with his legs, rushing for a career high 422 yards in the 2025 season despite missing the three final games due to a torn ACL. This highlights why the Chiefs will be even more cautious with Mahomes and what exactly Fields brings to an offense that hasn't been able to utilize the quarterback position in short-yardage situations.
While each team has seemingly created its own version of the Tush-Push play, the Chiefs refuse to utilize Mahomes in this way. Now, all of a sudden, you have an elite athlete capable of running short yardage plays and being utilized as a weapon for specific packages. In recent league history, we've seen this work with Taysom Hill and the New Orleans Saints or Malik Willis and the Green Bay Packers.
Justin Fields Can Unlock Previously Ignore Piece of Kansas City Offense
The Chiefs can now have their own version of the play by allowing Fields to run variations that help catch the opposing defense off guard. Add in utilizing Fields as an occasional Wildcat quarterback to throw off the defense, and Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy have added the perfect weapon to unlock a piece of the Kansas City offense that has been underutilized in recent seasons.
Fields is a noted dual-threat QB who has piled up 2,892 rushing yards in his short career. The signal caller has 23 career rushing touchdowns, with these numbers perfectly illustrating the weapon the Chiefs have added and the potential the offense now has to utilize this skillset to add to an already impressive playbook.
The urgency to protect Mahomes has never been higher after the quarterback suffered the first long-term injury of his career, leaving his status for Week 1 in question. Fields is a capable backup, but more importantly, he can be utilized to exploit the quarterback run game and help keep Mahomes healthy and in the pocket. To put it simply, Mahomes shouldn't be expected to scramble at the same level as he has in recent seasons, only utilizing his legs in emergencies or playoff-level games.
Fields should be how this loss is offset with the Chiefs designing specific packages for the quarterback's legs and allowing the quarterback to run short-yardage plays. No question, it unlocks an entirely new part of Kansas City's offense and gives the franchise yet another weapon as the offseason reset continues.