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A Kansas City Chiefs fan’s guide to the 2019 Draft: The Running Backs

By Lyle Graversen

BOCA RATON, FL - SEPTEMBER 15: Devin Singletary #5 of the Florida Atlantic Owls celebrates after scoring his fifth touchdown against the Bethune Cookman Wildcats during the first half at FAU Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
BOCA RATON, FL - SEPTEMBER 15: Devin Singletary #5 of the Florida Atlantic Owls celebrates after scoring his fifth touchdown against the Bethune Cookman Wildcats during the first half at FAU Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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The Chiefs may have signed Carlos Hyde to a one year deal but there are still a number of running back prospects that they could target in the draft as a long term answer at the position.

The 2019 NFL Draft is about a month and a half away and Kansas City Chiefs fans are gearing up for “draft season”. Every fan has their own list of priorities for their favorite team. Some spots they want to be filled in free agency and others they believe should be addressed in the draft.

Over the weekend the Chiefs made headlines by getting a jump on free agency when they signed running back Carlos Hyde to a one year deal. The pairing of Hyde with incumbent Damien Williams certainly reduces the urgency of finding a back in the draft but it shouldn’t eliminate the position from the draft board all together. For this post, I have looked at 21 different running back prospects with a specific eye on whether or not they would be a good fit for the Chiefs.

Before we get to the specific prospects I want to clarify why I believe the position is still one that the Chiefs may target in this draft. While I believe the duo of Williams and Hyde will carry the team in 2019 there is still no long-term answer at the position. Hyde is on a one-year deal and, even with Damien Williams’ contract extension, he is only under contract through 2020.

With all the other big dollar contracts the Chiefs may be trying to budget around, running back is a position where you can find cheap answers if you are smart about it. If the Chiefs were to draft a back this season, it would give him a year to learn Reid’s offense, then a year to split time with Williams who would still be a cheap starter entering his third season.

With how this running back class is shaping up, it looks like a good year to land a player that could fill that roll in the middle rounds. While this class may be short on elite first-round prospects, it is stacked with mid-round guys that have the potential to become good starters or at least key contributors/role players in an offense.

I’ve broken them down into some categories to try and make better sense of who the Chiefs could target and why. In each category, I will also identify my top choice for the Chiefs if they were to draft one of them. The first group I’m simply going to categorize as “Only if they fall far enough”.

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