5 Chiefs players who need a significant boost in playing time

Jerick McKinnon, RB

Of any of the players on this list, this one feels like the most obvious.

Jet McKinnon was re-signed this last offseason to come back for another Super Bowl run, but at his age and given his injury history, it made the most sense to keep him on a snap count of some kind. The rigors of a long season make it difficult for any player to escape feeling 100 percent and for McKinnon, his importance only grows down the stretch as it is.

McKinnon has never carried a significant workload for the Chiefs, especially in the ground game, but even his present usage rates are ridiculous with only 12 carries (1.3/game) and 23 targets (2.6/game) with just over half of a season in the books. Last year, McKinnon averaged 4.2 of each—carries and targets—per game, so his utilization is definitely deflated and purposefully so.

Gotta wonder if not leaning into McKinnon's strengths a bit more isn't what has partially hamstrung a Chiefs offense that has stalled at inopportune times on multiple occasions.

Looking forward, it was likely that a heightened use of McKinnon in the season's later months was part of the plan all along. If not, then it should be to help round out some options for Mahomes and to lessen the dependence on the dearth of options behind Pacheco otherwise.