The Kansas City Chiefs faced a devastating blow on Sunday afternoon when star running back, Isiah Pacheco, left the matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals in a walking boot, and on Monday headed to injured reserve for the foreseeable future; approximately 6-8 weeks.
The Kansas City Chiefs Have An Isiah Pacheco Shaped Hole In Their Rushing Attack
Unlike some more modern rushing offenses in the NFL, the Chiefs operate a slightly antiquated “work horse” back system, where the lead back takes the grand majority of snaps. In week 1, for example, Pacheco was on the field for 80% of plays, with next most being held by former Denver Bronco, Samaje Perine, who was on the field for just 15% of snaps.
Part of the reason for this concerns Pacheco’s prowess as a powerful, aggressive runner with excellent cardio, often thriving later in games as defenses tire, Yet, perhaps a bigger reason is the lack of bona fide downhill running depth after him.
Perine is an excellent 3rd down, receiving back, but lacks the physicality and vision to be a reliable between-the-tackles back; whilst undrafted rookie, Carson Steele, certainly has sheer physical ability but is still very raw.
As a result, many have been suggesting possible replacements for Pacheco in the medium term, but there is one option that would have been regarded as potentially lucrative, but very high risk. An option that, as it turns out, the Chiefs have decided to go with, per Jordan Schultz.
Kareem Hunt Faces Reunion With Former Employers As Desperation Strikes
Kareem Hunt, despite very much carrying the weight of a 2018 video displaying alleged domestic abuse, has actually stayed in the league for the past 5 season with the Cleveland Browns.
Although his tenure in Cleveland never reached the heights of his short stint in Kansas City, Hunt was certainly an effective secondary, “relief pitcher” back for the Browns forming a lethal 1-2 punch with All-Pro back, Nick Chubb, over the last few years.
Having been made a free agent this offseason, the Pro Bowler was one of the few viable options on the market, and having worked with him in the past, head coach, Andy Reid, and the Chiefs brass felt comfortable that he would be able to assimilate back to the scheme and culture well.
Hunt has not managed greater than 500 rushing yards since the Browns’ 2020 season where they reached the Divisional Round of the playoffs, yet he remains a potentially valuable asset, particularly as he still has less than the all-important 2000 career rushes in college and the pros.
Worth The Risk Or Foolish Move For Kansas City?
However, this is somewhat of a perplexing move on a PR level, given that the Chiefs originally released Kareem Hunt back in 2018 after the video arose, implying somewhat of a moral double standard: The video was bad enough to not be on the Chiefs in 2018, but after spending 5 years away on another team with no ramifications, save for a short, 8 week suspension back in 2019, the Chiefs feel good to sign him again.
Players change, people change, but it is hard to stomach the idea that the team that jettisoned him just 6 years ago is taking him back out of simple need, signifying the entire release of Hunt was more or less a mere PR stunt to relinquish external league and media pressure on the franchise.
Although, I imagine, pretty much every player release for off the field behaviour comes down to this.
Ultimately, if it helps the Chiefs churn out an extra win or 2 in close games that puts them closer to the #1 seed in the AFC, it will be regarded as a wholehearted success. But we have not seen Hunt as a lead back for quite a while, so let’s see if he still has it.
