The Kansas City Chiefs are a team with a lot of big-name players. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Chris Jones have become household names during their Super Bowl-winning era. The Chiefs also added another big name this offseason in running back Kenneth Walker. However, if you were making a list of the Chiefs' best players, the other two names that would likely be mentioned with those big names above are center Creed Humphrey and guard Trey Smith. Unfortunately, the Chiefs have not always maximized two of their best players.
The Chiefs clearly believe in both Humphrey and Smith because they gave both of them massive contract extensions to keep them in Kansas City. Both players are second in the NFL in terms of the per-year dollar amount of their current contracts for their positions. The players' combined deals are worth about $166 million.
Those contracts are well earned, as both players have been consistently great for the Chiefs. Trey Smith is one of the more physical guards in the NFL and has made two straight Pro Bowls. Creed Humphrey is pretty much universally viewed as the best center in football, having made four straight Pro Bowls and been the first-team All-Pro center the past two seasons.
The third member of K.C.'s interior offensive line is third-year pro Kingsley Suamataia. After a very rough rookie year at left tackle, Suamataia looked much more comfortable at left guard in year two. Like Smith, Suamataia has a strong frame and can generate a lot of push in the run game, even if he isn't quite as reliable in pass protection as his highly acclaimed teammates.
The Chiefs aren't maximizing their greatest strength
The problem is that, thus far, the Chiefs haven't taken advantage of having what could potentially be one of the most physically imposing interior lines in all the NFL. Anyone who has watched a single game of Chiefs football over the past decade knows that is because Andy Reid's offense is incredibly pass-heavy, and even when he does run the ball, it is frequently out of the shotgun. That has to change in 2026.
The Chiefs' biggest signing of the offseason was Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker at running back. If you are going to pay a running back $14 million per year and have one of the strongest interior lines in the NFL, you have to utilize them. Period. Andy Reid will never completely abandon his pass-first offense and become a run-heavy team, but he has to do a better job of maximizing his roster. When looking up Creed Humphrey's Pro Football Focus numbers, his splits really jumped out. PFF credited him with 742 pass-blocking snaps last season to just 351 run-blocking snaps.
Patrick Mahomes should always be the centerpiece of Kansas City's offense, but that ratio is absurd. With Mahomes now coming off a major knee injury and questionable depth at the pass-catching positions, Andy Reid has to understand that the Chiefs' offensive roster is set up to run the ball between the tackles to take some of that pressure off Mahomes and the passing game.
It's about how they run the football
It's not just about the number of rushes either. The Chiefs have frequently tried to run the ball out of the shotgun formation. While every shotgun run isn't the same, it usually is just Reid hoping the defense is focused on the pass and he can get a few yards to make picking up the next first down via the pass easier. That's very different from lining up under center and deliberately trying to establish the run.
At the combine, Brett Veach recognized that when he was asked what they could do better on offense, saying, "I think being more explosive in the running game and really taking advantage of those interior three to impose your will on an opposing team's defense." So the GM recognizes the need for this to happen, so you would hope the head coach would be on the same page.
It also probably helps that Eric Bieniemy is back as the offensive coordinator. Bieniemy is a former running back and running backs coach who has a physical mindset that the Chiefs were lacking the last couple of seasons. Adding a strong under-center run game also has the potential to open up the passing game, especially if they add more play-action passes to their arsenal.
Everything points toward the same solution
The bottom line is that the Chiefs' offense has a real strength in its interior offensive line, and while those players do help give Patrick Mahomes a safe pocket to pass from, K.C. is not maximizing their value there if they don't get more out of them in the run game. With Mahomes coming off an injury, questionable depth at the pass-catching positions, and Kansas City trying to rebound from the worst season of the Andy Reid era, it's time for them to finally lean on their interior offensive line and the run game.
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