Five bold predictions for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019
Damien Williams will have 1,500 yards from scrimmage
Obviously, the Chiefs will be without one of their primary weapons from the last two years for a full season in 2019. Whether you agree with the decision to release Kareem Hunt or not, as it seems the Browns have now received high praise for giving him a second chance, the fact is the Chiefs are relying on somewhat of an unproven backfield to balance out their prolific passing attack next season.
So, what do we know about this backfield? Let’s focus primarily on Damien Williams, as he is the presumed starter according to offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. It’s actually fairly easy to see why, as Williams had a very good, some would say great, end to the 2018 season. After barely playing in the first 13 games of the season, or not playing at all, Williams broke through down the stretch.
In the final three regular season games, Williams averaged 68 yards rushing, 40 yards receiving and one touchdown per game. He only got better in the playoffs, averaging 80 rushing yards, 46 receiving yards and two touchdowns per game. He was a huge reason the Chiefs were able to make up the deficit against the Patriots, rushing for one touchdown and catching two touchdowns in the second half of the AFC Championship game.
Given this small sample size, what can we expect from Williams if he receives the lion’s share of touches in the backfield? It is a small sample size, so predictions are not always reliable. Still, this is a bold predictions piece so if we knew what he would do with certainty the prediction wouldn’t technically be bold.
Based on the five games in which Williams started, and assuming his usage remains the same and he plays in all 16 games, he should push to break 1,000 rushing yards as well as 500 receiving yards for the season. Think this seems a bit confident? Since Andy Reid began his head coaching career, of all his leading rushers that played a full season, nine out of 14 of them had greater than 1,500 yards from scrimmage.
Is this a slam dunk? No, since he has to remain healthy. However, regardless of the fact that he’s had an uninspiring career so far, Williams has the speed and shiftiness to pull off a great season and he has a coach with a history of versatile running back seasons to help him do it.