Kansas City Chiefs: Maclin Shmaclin, RUN THE BALL!
It goes without saying that the Chiefs running backs need to perform better in 2017 if the running game is going to improve. We’ll discuss a couple of them specifically in a moment. Before we get to the backs lets start our list of things that need to be better with the big guys up front that open the holes for them, the offensive line.
The Kansas City Chiefs do not have a bad offensive line. They’re young, athletic, and the Chiefs have a definite advantage over many teams this season because they are returning all seven offensive linemen that started games for them last season. Their pass protection in particular has steadily improved over the past few seasons.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that they have not shown the ability to overpower defenses at the line of scrimmage. This was evident in their poor execution on short yardage and goal line plays. In simplest terms, the Chiefs offensive line needs to be stronger at the point of attack. This offensive line can get to the second level well. They understand positioning and creating running lanes. They will be comfortable with each other and their communication should be good this season. The real question is can they line up against a good defense and create a push in the right direction. The Chiefs run game can be solid, even if the Chiefs aren’t super physical up front, but they will never have a dominant run game if the offensive line can’t move guys off the line of scrimmage. Period.
Will this improve in 2017? It’s hard to say. The fact that the Chiefs line is so young does at least open them up to the possibility that a NFL strength and conditioning program will continue to help them develop this area of their game but until we see them in action in the first preseason game there simply is no way to know for sure. Every year we hear training camp reports about how this guy “looks bigger” or has clearly added muscle mass. Blah blah blah. Sometimes it turns out to be true; other times not so much.
Probably a bigger thing to watch for in training camp is if the Chiefs are putting an emphasis on being physical up front and running the football. It’s hard for teams to develop a physically dominant persona if they don’t practice it every day. The bottom line is that the Chiefs offensive line must be more physical in the running game if the Chiefs are going to see a big improvement from last season’s poor production running the football.
Now let’s talk about the running backs.