On paper, it feels silly to say that the third game of a seventh-round rookie’s career should be a coming-out party. But that’s just how desperately the Kansas City Chiefs should be to make something happen in the backfield.
The Chiefs sit at 0-2 headed into a Sunday night showdown in primetime against the New York Giants. The offense was the culprit in the team’s Week 2 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, and the team has asked way too much of Patrick Mahomes this season to keep things sustainable. That was already true of the Chiefs’ offense over the last two years, but 2025 has taken that dependence to another level.
Mahomes has only lost four games in the month of September since he took over the reins as the Chiefs’ starting quarterback in 2018, but he’s already tacked two more on this year. If the Chiefs want to avoid going 0-3, they’re going to have to get Mahomes some help, and that responsibility should be felt by K.C.’s ground game.
Unfortunately, the most recognizable faces aren’t likely to help here. Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt form the least dynamic tandem in the NFL right now, and while Hunt’s presence on short-yardage plays is helpful, no defense is going to worry too much about either player as a playmaker. Unless the Chiefs try out Elijah Mitchell, who has been a healthy scratch through two games, it’s hard to see how any veteran makes the Giants pay attention.
Enter Brashard Smith, the aforementioned seventh-round rookie who is the x-factor in the Chiefs’ rushing attack. Smith was himself a newcomer to the position in 2024 when he broke out for 1,332 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns last year at SMU. The Chiefs swapped two late seventh-round choices to move up in the same round to get him in this spring’s draft.
Despite the dire need for a higher ceiling at the position, the Chiefs haven’t given Smith a chance to show what he can do so far in 2025. He had a single carry for two yards in Week 2 and he failed to register a touch in Week 1. Even in the preseason, the Chiefs weren’t exactly given him a chance to put a highlight reel together.
Of course, any rookie is going to need time to adjust, and Smith is certainly no exception. There’s a lot to learn mentally and physically at the position, and pass protection issues are just part of the bargain. No one should be calling for Smith to be a bell cow of any kind.
It does, however, make sense for the Chiefs to script several plays for Smith and to give him a chance to get moving on a series or two to see what sort of momentum he can bring to the table. Smith with the ball in space is a far more explosive option than anything else the Chiefs are going to cook up without external help.
Basically, the Chiefs should be feeling a bit desperate being 0-2 to start the year, and there’s no better place to experiment than in a backfield where nothing is working. Maybe Smith will fail miserably, but it’d be nice to see how the kid when given at least a handful of touches.
