Three things we learned from Chiefs snap counts vs. Bengals
By Matt Conner
What to make of Jerick McKinnon
On Sunday afternoon, the Chiefs came into the AFC Championship about as healthy as they have been in several weeks in the offensive backfield. Darrel Williams was cleared to play despite being questionable with an injury designation. Clyde Edwards-Helaire had remained healthy for multiple games, and Jerick McKinnon and Derrick Gore both remained ready for reps.
Despite the plethora of options, the Chiefs downgraded Gore to inactive shortly before the game, played Williams on a mere two snaps, and let McKinnon run away with any “contest” with 78 percent of snaps at halfback. Compare that with Edwards-Helaire’s 19 percent and you see the clear delineation.
What’s interesting about this total is that McKinnon is scheduled to be a free agent for the Chiefs this offseason, and he wasn’t much of a factor at all on offense over the course of the regular season until the very end. Then suddenly he’s been the very sparkplug that the offense needed to get them past a couple of tough opponents. Even in the loss on Sunday, McKinnon had 95 total yards from scrimmage, including 65 on the ground on only 12 carries.
Given that McKinnon isn’t even making a cool million this year from the Chiefs (1-year, $990K), the Chiefs are likely going to have some competition for his services if they want to bring him back. His snap counts point to a yes.