Can anyone make out how things are going to turn out for the Chiefs backfield?
Can anyone make out how things are going to play out for the Chiefs backfield?
With just one preseason game left on the Kansas City Chiefs schedule and just over a week before roster cuts are due, most positions are coming into view clearer than ever in terms of who will be in and out. And then there's running back.
With Week 2 coming into view, the Chiefs were still dealing with the same issues hovering around for the last few months. Namely, those willing to closer at the posiition were left to wonder what the Chiefs really had. Isiah Pacheco makes for a nice lead back, but behind him stood a row of cheap, unproven options with little reason to think there were answers inside.
Deneric Prince was a former buzz-generating undrafted free agent who wasn't ready for the big time a year ago. Back again for another run with the team, it was clear the Chiefs were intent on giving him a real opportunity to compete without any clear on-field reasons to those outside of Arrowhead.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire is well past the expiration date of any credibility that being a former first-round pick should have given him. Somewhere between years two or five, that pick became a sunk cost. These days, CEH is nothing more than roster filler, an oft-injured player who doesn't excel at any one thing and isn't even available with any regularity. Oh yeah, he's also signed to a cheap one-year deal.
Keaontay Ingram is a third-year pro who came to the Chiefs from the Arizona Cardinals as a former sixth-round choice out of USC that Brett Veach admitted the team has liked for some time. He landed with K.C. as a practice squad player last November, but to date he still hasn't shown why Veach seems to legitimately like him.
From there, you have this year's undrafted free agents like Carson Steele and Emani Bailey alongside returner/rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit. The former is making some interesting waves in camp, while the latter has practically vanished from camp altogether. As for LRZ, he's figuring things out in a new sport with a new team making new demands.
Despite Jerick McKinnon being available as a free agent, the Chiefs have. made no overtures in his direction. At the same time, they've made the same amount of gestures in free agency—leaving these aforementioned contestants to battle it out and prove themselves worthy of making the Chiefs' active roster.
For a team used to injuries in the backfield, one very familiar with the rigorous demands set forth by the NFL schedule, you'd think Brett Veach would make good on the backfield and pony up for an external free agent or perhaps trade for one that is wiggling free on another roster. Instead the Chiefs trotted out the same largely uninspired group as before.
Consider that Prince looked good on a 40-yard plus run against the Lions on Saturday. Yet that means he had 6 other rushes for 6 yards. Yikes. From there, everyone's stats looked pedestrian because the sample sizes were too small to matter given little playing time apiece. Steele once again looked solid on a return and fumble recovery, but even he had 3 rushes for 8 yards and caught a couple of targets for negative-three yards.
At this point, the Chiefs are failing to give their players a real chance to stand out in games with their offensive calls and workloads. However, even within those limited parameters, it's not as if anyone (besides Steele) is stepping up to make their presence felt. Given that no one is too expensive to cut, it makes more sense for the Chiefs to go shopping instead of relying upon a thin group to get it done for the long haul.
