Chiefs Back Is Chasing His Position Coach For Top Numbers

By now the entire NFL world knows all about the fast start of Kansas City Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III, who is staking a claim to become MVP by leading the Chiefs to a 4-0 start. 

What most people don’t know, though, is that Walker’s fast start is tied into an achievement by his position coach, DeMarco Murray, who once had an equally first start, according to a report from Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. 

Walker has 537 rushing yards to lead the league so far, and the Chiefs noted on Thursday that that’s the most by any player over the first four weeks in the last 15 years. 

The player who did it before Walker? That would be Murray, who had 534 yards with the Dallas Cowboys to start the 2014 season, per Simmons. 

It’s an interesting footnote to Walker’s story in Kansas City so far, as the Chiefs hired Murray as running backs coach in February after he’d spent the last six seasons as Oklahoma’s running backs coach. Murray played his college ball for the Sooners before the Cowboys took him in the third round of the 2011 draft.

Walker still has a long way to go to catch Murray, though. That 2014 season remains one of the best for a running back in NFL history, as Murray wound up with league-leading 1,845 yards rushing, totaling 2,261 yards from scrimmage on 449 touches.

Duplicating or exceeding Murray’s numbers would likely mean very good things for the Chiefs, who have already reestablished themselves as one of the teams to beat in the AFC, if not the team to beat. But it also points to the usage and wear-and-tear issues the Chiefs are already monitoring, as Murray didn’t have a long career at the top of the running back heap. 

The Chiefs are trying to work rookie running back Emmett Johnson into the mix, and he’s had some effective moment while learning the ropes. But it’s tough to take Walker out of the lineup given how well he’s performing, and one of Walker’s most impressive attributes is a warrior mentality that includes his desire to be a workhorse. 

That can’t include every snap, though, so it’s probably a good thing that the Chiefs are getting an early bye week. They also have some issues with their offensive line that have gotten quarterback Patrick Mahomes hit a lot during their four-game winning streak, so look for the formula to be tweaked when they resume play.