D’Onta Foreman deserves a look from the Kansas City Chiefs

Despite the fact that he struck out with the Houston Texans, the Chiefs should take a closer look at running back D’Onta Foreman.

Let me beat you to the punch because most of your talking points or pushback will be more two-dimensional than you think. I apologize in advance if that’s offensive, but I still think it’s true.

After reading a headline that the Kansas City Chiefs should check out running back D’Onta Foreman, it’s fairly simple to figure out what the naysayers will bring up. So I’d rather just shoot those targets out of the sky from the moment they’re launched.

First, someone will point out the amount of talent the Chiefs already have in the backfield and say we don’t need anything. So basically those persons are saying they want their general manager to stop looking at talent at certain positions once a specific threshold is reached. That means we can say that we’re also done at quarterback or wide receiver or tight end or offensive tackle or safeties unless Brett Veach is only looking at lesser talented options. We don’t need any high ceiling players here at any of those positions.

More from Arrowhead Addict

• Former Chiefs cornerback in legal trouble in Las Vegas
• Chiefs Kingdom: Get ready to break contract news
• Chiefs news: Travis Kelce wants to host fan ‘chug-off’ in Germany
• Podcast: Breaking down the Chiefs biggest roster battles
• KC Chiefs send Dave Merritt to NFL coaching accelerator

Someone else is bound to bring up a line like, “Uh, does Foreman play cornerback?” This one is my (least) favorite because it implies that a team should not improve anything until it attends to the most pressing matter. This line is so ludicrous that I shouldn’t even have to bother with it, but someone will bring it up on Twitter and 100 people like like it and retweet it.

Perhaps the best argument against bringing in D’Onta Foreman for the Chiefs comes down to his tenure with the Houston Texans. The team isn’t exactly known for its ground game, but that didn’t stop the team from cutting him. Injuries, inconsistency and a poor work ethic were all linked with Foreman at the professional level. At some point the Texans just tired of the drama and decided to wash their hands.

If Foreman is going to stay injured, stay unmotivated, and/or stay inconsistent, then certainly the Chiefs should, well, stay away. But there are plenty of reasons why the Chiefs should kick the tires and bring him in to potentially learn and grow with the NFL’s best offense.

Age

Foreman is just now 23 years old. He’s already been in the league two years but he is still younger than Darrell Williams. The idea of not giving Foreman a chance when he’s still so young seems silly.

Previous production

Foreman was a third round pick in 2017 (the same round/year as Kareem Hunt‘s selection by the Chiefs) for the Texans and the belief was that he would eventually unseat Lamar Miller as the team’s featured back.

Foreman was incredibly productive at the University of Texas where he won the Doak Walker Award as the best running back in college football after putting 2,028 yards on 323 carries (good for a 6.3 yards/carry average) and 15 touchdowns. The All-American back also caught another 7 passes for 75 yards in his junior season for the Longhorns.

During his college career, he showed the capability of being a bellcow back on early downs, a player with incredible agility and balance for a player who was also running at 230 pounds. He wasn’t a dynamic two-way threat as he’s still relatively green as a pass catcher, but he was nearly impossible to bring down on a first attempt and stuffing him for negative yards was a rare feat indeed.

What to believe about work ethic?

Someone in Texas is clearly throwing Foreman under the bus by leaking to Ian Rapoport that the team was concerned about his work habits. That might be a true statement, but it also seems to go against what the team’s running backs coach just said about him two months ago.

"He’s light-years ahead of where he was last year at this time, coming off the injury and everything. I still think he’s continuing to work hard. I think he’s had a good offseason to date. The time away from here, I thought was well spent for himself."

Foreman missed much of last season rehabbing his way back from a torn Achilles, but his positional coach seems to be saying that he felt Foreman was able to be trusted with doing the right thing even away from the team.

Andy Reid‘s creativity

Here’s the thing: D’Onta Foreman was once one of the most productive backs in all of college football who earned comps to former Carolina Panthers star Jonathan Stewart. Put this sort of proven talent (on the college level) in the hands of Andy Reid to see what happens.

No one is able to create mismatches like Reid—just ask Damien Williams, the man currently called starter at running back. The Chiefs brought in DW after four years in Miami where never averaged more than 4.0 yards/carry yet somehow looked like a man reborn.

Offensive line play

The Houston Texans were second worst in total sacks allowed in 2017 and worst overall in 2018. Their answer this offseason was the drafting of two small-school linemen in the first two rounds. Zach Fulton is the second-most talented lineman for Houston if that tells you anything.

The Chiefs already have a carousel full of talent at the running back position, but it’s also clear that things can quickly change in the NFL. Damien Williams is injured and missing more time than Reid would like. Carlos Hyde has a history of injuries himself. Darrell Williams and Darwin Thompson have potential, but nothing’s been proven.

Foreman put up 2k rushing yards in a single season and warranted a third round choice. He’s coming off of an injury, but a clean start in a healthier overall environment might be exactly what he needs.