The Kansas City Chiefs enter the 2014 season with elevated expectations thanks to a breakout 2013 season that saw them improve by nine wins from the previous campaign. While much of that can be attributed to the stability provided by QB Alex Smith, it was the running game that really made this team tick. Jamaal Charles nearly totaled 2,000 yards for 19 total touchdowns, but his injury against the Colts in the wild card round proved costly. This year, don’t expect the Chiefs to be caught unaware should history repeat itself.
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The Chiefs currently sport five running backs and one fullback on their 53-man roster. When coach Andy Reid was asked what the team planned to do with so many backs, Reid’s answer was simple.
“Use them,’’ he said per ESPN. “You want to keep the best players. This is [general manager John Dorsey] and how he operates, which is the right way to do things, You keep the guys you feel are the best 53. We felt the four [backups] were that and we roll from there.’’
In addition to Charles, the Chiefs will roll out DeAnthony Thomas, Kniles Davis, Joe McKnight and Cyrus Gray. Now, just because these guys are on the roster as running backs, doesn’t mean they’ll all get carries. Thomas and Davis are part-time players at best. Gray will be primarily a special teams guy and McKnight appears to be the resident fill-in for Charles, given that his speed and ability most closely match that of Charles.
Plan or no plan though, it will be interesting to see how long the Chiefs keep this many backs. One can imagine that once injuries start rolling in, at least one of these backs will be shown the door.