What to expect from the 2019 Kansas City Chiefs running game

Damien Williams

Damien Williams took over as the Chiefs lead running back after Kareem Hunt was released in early December. While Williams isn’t seen as quite the elite back that Hunt is, he was still able to produce at a pretty impressive clip during his time as the starter.

In his final five games as the Chiefs starting running back (which includes their two playoff games), Williams averaged 13.8 carries and 72.4 yards per game while averaging 5.2 yards per carry with five rushing touchdowns. If Williams can maintain that level of production in 2019 as the Chiefs feature back, there is no reason to believe that the Chiefs running game won’t be just as productive as it has been in Andy Reid‘s previous years with the Chiefs. Over the entire 2018 season, Williams had 85 carries for 415 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry with six rushing touchdowns.

The good news is that Williams doesn’t have a lot of wear and tear on his tires. Some running backs are already starting to show signs of decline at age 27, but Williams comes into his sixth NFL season having taken a minimal amount of physical pounding. Prior to last season Williams had never even eclipsed 50 carries in an entire season. Even if you factor in his receptions, he still only averaged 54.5 offensive touches per season over his first four years with the Dolphins. For the sake of comparison, Kareem Hunt had 325 offensive touches in his rookie year alone.

The real question with Williams may be if he can handle the physical toll of all the touches that he may get as a feature back? If he is up for it and he can replicate the production he had late last season, then Williams could become the next in a long line of successful Chiefs running backs. Again, we’re even ignoring how productive Williams can be as a pass catcher out of the backfield.

Next, let’s look at the back that the Chiefs added in free agency this offseason.