Chiefs vs. Ravens: Darwin Thompson gets first chance to shine in Week 3

Kansas City Chiefs rookie running back Darwin Thompson is now the next man up for the team as they head into Week 3 without Damien Williams.

Darwin Thompson, a fan favorite from the Kansas City Chiefs preseason, is now going to get a chance to make his presence felt when it matters most.

On the eve of the Chiefs third game of the season, a home showdown against the Baltimore Ravens for early AFC bragging rights, Kansas City officially announced that running back Damien Wiliams has already been ruled out for the game. Given that fellow co-starter LeSean Mccoy has already been limited in practice, it looks as if Thompson will get a chance to shine.

Coming into the regular season, it looked as if Thompson had already earned such a role in a tandem with “starter” Damien Williams. Darrel Williams was also in the mix, but Thompson looked the part of a real contributor through the entirety of training camp and the preseason, and he climbed the depth chart accordingly.

Then came one of the bigger surprises among roster cuts. The Buffalo Bills set McCoy free at the eleventh hour, which gave the Chiefs an unforeseen opportunity to add a dynamic player in the backfield on the cheap. Suddenly Thompson found himself a bit lower on the pecking order, through no fault of his own. It was an already rich offense getting embarrassingly richer.

For the Chiefs, the addition was exciting as McCoy nearly put up 100 yards from scrimmage in his very first game. Unfortunately for Thompson, it also pushed back any real opportunity he had to affect the game, save for a rare touch here or there, if he received any.

Now, however, Thompson is front and center. With McCoy limited and Williams out, Thompson could end up earning the lion’s share of the rushing load on Sunday. Darrel Williams can also enter the mix when needed and McCoy might be good to go, but expect Thompson to get a decent amount of carries and/or targets.

For a player who has surprised everyone at every level, Thompson now gets to do it one more time at the professional level. He’s risen to every challenge thus far, and he looked the part this summer. If Thompson is going to be successful, he’ll need the Chiefs front line to perform better than they did last week. If they can answer the call, Thompson can take care of the rest.