The Kansas City Chiefs struggled with explosiveness in the backfield last season and will seek to change that this offseason, which may include a scheme change.
The main problem the Kansas City Chiefs faced as an offense in 2025 was by far the inefficiency of the running game.
The Chiefs lacked explosiveness and both running backs, Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco, failed to log more than one explosive run that went beyond 20 yards. Hunt had one while Pacheco had none, according to ESPN's Ryan McFadden; that’s a major problem when defenses can drop back in coverage because they know the running back isn’t going to break free.
All of Kansas City’s talking heads – general manager Brett Veach, head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy – have expressed the need for explosiveness from the RB position, and there are several options in free agency that fit that bill.
McFadden reported that the most likely options are Super Bowl winner Kenneth Walker III, Travis Etienne Jr. and Tyler Allgeier. But, if star Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love is available, the Chiefs won’t pass him up at No. 9.
New York Jets dual-threat RB Breece Hall, who was a Chiefs trade deadline target last season and would have been one of the top free agent options, but Jets GM Darren Mougey told reporters at the scouting combine that the team would be using a tag (franchise or transition) on Hall if they can’t agree to a deal, removing him from the open market.
Regardless of who the Chiefs bring in to replace Hunt and Pacheco, who are both free agents, McFadden revealed that the team is likely to change its scheme and GM Veach hinted at the possibility of “several alterations” to the running game.
“We've talked about it, and Coach has done an amazing job with his staff cranking on that scheme eval, being more explosive in the running game and taking advantage of those interior three to kind of impose your will on an opposing team's defense,” Veach said at the combine.
“The running game takes a lot of pressure off everybody. If we can be more explosive, and more effective in the running game, it'll take a lot of pressure off of [quarterback Patrick Mahomes], especially coming back early in the season [from] the injury.”
The Chiefs ran a ton of run-pass play-action plays and teams adapted to it quickly, thus leading to issues trying to generate explosive runs. It’ll be especially more difficult to nail those plays with Mahomes coming back from two torn ligaments in his left knee that ended his season in Week 15.
Mahomes was the team’s most efficient runner, and he ran for a career-high 422 yards and likely would have surpassed his career-high in attempts if he finished the season. The Chiefs would like to have their two-time Most Valuable Player not run as frequently to save his legs, so bringing someone in who could take the pressure off of him is essential to the team’s success in 2026.