Only Weird Games 3/17: Explosiveness vs. Efficiency — Measuring the Impact of Chiefs' New-Look RB Room

0:00I think the viewers are gonna have a very obvious question as this episode of only weird games begin you can see me Josh or brisco You can see Nate Taylor and other side of the screen and then in the middle there is Seth Kaiser and Seth I'm gonna ask you for something here real quick. Could you please show us your pants? Okay, so that's wearing some blue jeans. Do you have any socks on if they're bare feet? I don't want to see them Red and white socks. They're actually chief socks Great any other day of the year. I'd say you're you're dressed to the nines. Can we get someone in there to pinch you real quick? Because I'm not seeing any green. I'm not seeing any holiday spirit Nate and I have brought the St. Patrick's Day theme to today's show And the only thing you are right now is I can tell green with envy. I Would just say that I don't celebrate your pagan holidays. He's definitely wearing black though. He's definitely not pagan

1:00You Coming up the latest episode of only weird games here on KC sports network You heard it here first folks Seth Kaiser says St. Patrick is Again, all that you figure out the theology of that in the chief in the North newsletter comments section But today we're mostly talking about running backs on only weird games. I've introduced everybody already and They traded for Justin and fields Nate I'm just gonna let's cannonball in that direction right now because I'm genuine Okay, here is was that on your radar before it happened. What was your reaction when that came through because we've talked about the backup quarterback options a little bit They clearly needed a backup through training camp in particular. I don't think we ever talked about a trade And if we had talked about trade candidates, I don't know that I ever would have talked about Justin fields

2:05No, I mean it was one of those things where it's like okay, that makes sense that actually makes yes since And we talked about that in the in the text thread, but no it wasn't like It was not something I expected bright and early Monday morning Now When you take it piece by piece again, it makes a lot of sense I know that there was some report and I guess look I love complex Don't need on for for sports purposes really unless it is actually tied to music But you know Yeah, the complex report that said hey Maybe Russell Wilson wants to be a Kansas City and I said Did we watch did we watch what if he does? Yeah So that was interesting to be like well, I guess I guess you could consider Russell Wilson I guess you can consider her cousins. I don't know But because of the genosmith trade

3:08Because the jets actively chose to trade for genosmith just just just want to let you know now They got plenty of cap space and Picks in 2027, but as for right now you actively trade it for genosmith listen man that yes For the low low price Justin feels could be yours and I guess To the cheese benefit Justin feels wanted to be a Kansas City So again when you put all the pieces together it makes a lot of sense He knows he has a chance again. It's somewhat slim. I would say but a chance to be Your Starter in 2026 in September But hey, you know there are You know some situations where maybe you would have them were of a Legitimate chance to compete for the starting job But in order to you know be around the best to see the day-to-day process Because I know gardener Mitch you got a ton out of that even though he didn't play much and even when he did play

4:12His knee kind of flared up on him Unfortunately in Nashville there's still a lot of benefit to being around Andy Reid Eric being in me Patrick my homes Travis Kelsey and the likes and so When the jets are willing to eat eight million because they're already eating Tim Sure come on over man. Let's let's do this It was a 2027 sixth round pick and then it's three million dollars on the cap to Justin fields So Seth same question me what do you think as the news came down and then after having some time to think about it Where do you land? I like it. I didn't see that coming particularly nice candle And I like to put it sorry. I don't have to hold it the whole show, but it's safe Sure, get it. I do just want to say that is this blasphemous by claiming that it was a you said in the intro I guess by claiming by calling it a pig in holiday I was just making a silly joke not making some kind of statement about Catholicism versus what about it? What about that Easter when he's You know what about he can go because the comment section is not happy with him

5:14And how do we know the Easter bunny is a he and not a she What am I doing with this voice? Not sure no and rabbits don't lay eggs anyway, so I got a lot of Biological questions, but with Justin fields They give up much for a book. Excuse me It didn't give up much right The the thing with fields that I think is interesting. No review is not coming No I still I'm still in the middle of Tonga's film. I've reviewed like 230 maps now so I've got a good idea with him And I know I think we're going to talk about him Thursday And I've got a slot corner and a safety. I'm going to learn their names at some point I've got to learn their names Look, I had I was sick all last week. I had certainly jury trouble that I was shot, man You sound like Amy Reid. Who's that 22 over there? Huh? McDuffy? All right, I'll learn his name. Yeah, whoever he is So the thing about you to yons is what we've learned the the thing about trading for now being being 41 brought me to yons

6:20You being 41 is also brought me to yons recently the thing about The thing about the Justin fields being signed is it's It's a one year flyer. He's really motivated to learn as much as he can do as much as he can and I think The assumption is this that my homes is going to be ready Maybe we'll see but one thing I like about having fields is about the Easter buddy believes my homes will definitely be bouncing in weak one Um the thing with fields is he's a guy that you can bring in who stylistically plays the game Very different from the homes Um, you don't say yeah, but and so that makes it a little bit weird But like stylistically pretty much everyone plays the game different from the homes I think what you can do with Justin fields that you couldn't necessarily do You know Andy Reid always says, oh, you know, we don't change the offense the backups ready and I'm like that's dumb Like that's like that's like no, no, no, no, no, that's his version of Tom Moore be like we don't can I can I hey Tucker

7:26Can I get a don't have to you could we we know what the word is you know, but I want to say it with passion and motivation But I don't quote is I don't know what the word is and it's one of the bigger give me a dog if I can say it or not I don't I mean what is what would he say if you Sets you don't we look coming So we're gonna do a cut kids kids kids 18 goes down we're fucked and we don't practice fucked That's it. That's the nicer more Injury say on the nicer version of that guys If 15's not here, why are we practicing? I I've always thought like that was a weird quote to be honest because like What if he's only out for four weeks like do you just consider it? I said set set we are Oh Chad Haney and Matt more. Yeah. Yeah, I'm talking about a paid man. He know paid man Yeah, I know who wasn't as good a quarterback as Patrick my homes. So

8:26And so here's here's what I would say which is which is by the way crazy to say out loud in On a say globally true Absolutely So with fields what's interesting to me is that you have the ability to bring him in With a kind of paired down offense that specific to his skill set In terms of he's an awesome running quarterback hasn't really developed as a passer the way you'd like He's kind of bounced around. He was in he was with the jets, you know pre-bend Johnson So Lord only knows what was going on there Um, and he also in with the jets. I mean, it's like okay It's like oh, I couldn't succeed with the jets. Well, that's true with everybody that jets the first time in the Bears You know who you know who his offensive coordinator was as a rookie or his head coach was as a rookie. Who Matthew naggy. Oh, man. He's got his team. He's got his team association. Yeah. Oh god if that if If he's right off the tree Um, so to me what you've got is a situation of a guy who does have talent does have some specific high-end skills that you can

9:33You can build like a paired down offense around that's very different from what you do that might really fit what the offense is actually pretty good at So let's say you you lose my homes during the middle of the game. It's like all right I hope you're ready to run read option and Justin fields will be like yeah, I'm always ready to run read option I'm actually really good at it right and so I mean like a you know a read option offense built around Kenneth Walker And Justin fields in that offensive line. Okay, you can get away with that for a couple of games and really Messed with what teams are trying to do So I like that I like having a high-end talent As a backup who maybe isn't someone that like you know You can necessarily trust for multiple games at a time because of some specific weaknesses that he's got But like if you only need him for a half a game or a couple of games feels as a great option A really really talented one that you can change the offense a great deal and kind of force teams to prepare for you very differently than they were going to So I like it um, and I mean his college film was good

10:36And it's not like he wasn't an awesome prospect coming out and I think now we've learned that environment and Surroundings and coaching does matter a great deal because Sam Darnold is a Superbowl winning quarterback now to be fair Are we sure that's that that that There's something about Seattle that allows them to just get the best out of quarterbacks because Russ Wilson and Understand this is mostly this he's just said not like Russ Wilson look better there than anywhere else Geno Smith was a disaster suddenly like he was a disaster before Good in Seattle than a disaster after Sam Darnold goes to Seattle now to be fair. He was good. He's awesome with the fight. Yes He was awesome with the Vikings until crunch time when he's Don't and then suddenly in the past now to be fair You know what happened with Seattle and this is where wow. We know it's the year of our Lord 2026 And things have changed since 2021 They're like we're gonna run the ball under center and we're just gonna ask you to make four or five good throws a game

11:36And it's gonna be enough and turns out it was with a defense that was eating people's faces So anyway with Justin Fields I like the high-end aspect to it. I like the ability to come in and modify the offense and be genuinely tough to defend for a couple of games So I'm fine with it If I hear one person say That he's familiar with the system. Did they say that? Did they say that? Well, yeah, mr. Brisco said that no no one's gonna, you know Again, I don't know when we're gonna talk to Justin Fields Hopefully sooner rather than later again. This is all pending Hey, that's not officially yet. It's a cool right So you know, it's a team changes its mind Right or in case hey, we just we just found that your knee Isn't what you told us it was even though you definitely told us you had knee surgery, but you know what Yeah, man, we're just gonna have so we're just gonna have some put you back on a fly

12:37If they find out that they can sign Tyrod Taylor for like $1.5 million in the trades off then we'll have to change our analysis But but there are a couple things with with fields that I don't think enough people have mentioned so far Here's a fun stat for you He has started as many games in the NFL as Chad Haney had started in the NFL when he became the backup for the Kansas City Chiefs They both started 53 regular season games before joining the Chiefs Justin Fields is younger He's a scrambler and I don't think that he gets probably enough credit for what the path of his NFL career has been so far But I think that Usefully he has been the guy in Chicago He was a guy in Pittsburgh and he was a New York jet last year He's been in different stages of his NFL career Enough to kind of know how this works like this is very different than spending a sixth round pick on a rookie in this year's draft to throw It's like we're gonna you know shoot for a ceiling which is probably isn't very helpful if he's learning the NFL Well also trying to install the offense in training camp that the chiefs are going to need to do because Patrick

13:40Mom's isn't gonna be out there in St. Joe right they were they were never going to invest a ton at quarterback Even with the additional picks after the Trimic Duffy trade for all the reasons you mentioned Josh and for the fact that both Patrick and Andy like having a veteran in the room again to be a collaboration to be a part of the process alongside The quarterback coaches as well. So No, I never really sell them even with Gardner entry going to Arizona. We should probably make that a point too like Gardner is just in field is making here. Yes, Gardner makes you got more on the open market as a free agent Then the Jets were willing to or the just were able to get in a trade because the future year pick and they're still eating much of the money Because they were always gonna eat the money. So it was weird yesterday having the Jets be like hey, that's actually a win He's all for books, but he's not all for a book. Hey, but we got a spin all 10 million But hey, we saved two and he's not on our team anymore, you know, so like the whole like some antics of that

14:46Because now I think this is interesting too Um, and I don't know if anybody has said this necessarily We know that Anthony Richardson's on the market. I would have to believe that she sniffed And I don't know what Anthony Richardson will go for We still got to see if he can see the ball guys because his orbital bone snapped last year So his trade market is Inconclusive would be my guess, but Hey, this tells you this is a better deal. This guy is not dealing with an orbital bone injury um He's a lot further along in his career This is probably the easiest mood to make now it helps out the Jets because Jets need to figure out something to do with just And feels because like he not he not a part of their program. So again, not something we anticipated But it all makes sense when you consider the only other quarterback who's in a backup ready role to be traded elsewhere Is Anthony Richardson and we don't know

15:48When he's going to be able to like see the field and operate an offense Literally like literally we don't know When he's going to be able to operate the offense and give it a chance to to sort of Provide his career from where it is right now. So when you can see all those things Hey, we didn't want to go on for you to see we're not gonna We're not sure what's gonna happen with Kirk cousins We're not you know gardener mentioned what elsewhere great for him This this makes sense if you're trying to just make sure you have someone who can throw the football to Travis Chelsea In a most time because quietly lays a gentleman Well, I should like in a month and a half they're gonna have like legitimately voluntary practices And they didn't obviously want to just Not have a veteran presence there as part of the offseason program If I was a team looking for my starter still I'd rather trade for Anthony Richardson If I'm in the show the shoes of the cheese right now I'd rather have Justin Fields because again You have to get through the offseason with an NFL quarterback And look you can you can be optimistic about my homes You can have it that he's currently on track to be back for week one or whatever

16:52If at any point that progress lags if at any point his body responds like a normal human knee would and not a Patrick Myhomes knee would if he comes back in week five and they're oh and four because the winner of the Chris Oledok and Jake Hainer battle played Some really crummy football for the first quarter of the season Now you're really bleached like now you have really as it may bring back Patrick Myhomes off an ACL in a big hole And trying the dig out of that to get in a wild card and fight or whatever With Justin Fields they've made an actual investment to try to so that's where it is And I don't know what the other options were that would have if they brought back Carson wins We'd be done talking about it by now If they brought in Tyrod Taylor I think it would have made sense But the ceiling's not as high and I don't know what that offense actually looks like looks like yeah If if you have to play a few games out my homes Justin Fields and Kenneth Walker is an NFL street two back field coming straight from my heart Like there there is fun football to be played in that version of the chief's offense And like you like you mentioned earlier Seth I just you can try to do a play style thing

17:53But also if you say well, he's gonna get a real Mahomesy type to to fit back there Right, they don't make those those those are all Those are all first round draft picks and starters and really Hey, hey, hey, that Mahomesy Let's give a shout out to Chris Olatokin who tried his best to fumble the ball scramble pick it up Across his body. Do you just miss juicer first down That's what a that's what your scout team Mahomes candidate can do and you hope Justin Fields can actually help you win Some football games because these games are gonna matter if it's the beginning of the season or somewhere in the midst of it Those games matter when you have Mahomes going back off the ACL So we've already talked about the back of quarterback a lot. Let's talk about the starting running back after this break My name is Teril jolly a lot of people call me TJ founder and CEO of integrity capital management So integrity capital management originally started out as a property management firm But we slowly transitioned to what is described as an incremental development firm that's focused on a situational housing

18:57I know most people say affordable But we believe in creating housing for people that are actually in need and built to the end user I believe that everyone needs a home because when you have home you have hope Reality is that when you build in a business one thing you don't think about is like what a true banking relationship means And you know, I had the honor of hovers that meeting that be early on in my career when I was just trying to get going And as a small business It's really Challenging at times because people don't understand the concept or I'm not Believe the longevity because you're just getting started But Debbie was willing to take a chance on me take the patient with me Almost look at like a grassroots initiative. She's seen she's seen it believe what I'm about Anybody that's really true about their business and want to get some things done I would definitely trust hands down and prize because devs team Along with Erin and Jackie and all the amazing people that work behind the scenes Even from the dress treasury side. I would say hey give them an opportunity

19:57Because you won't be disappointed and you will actually be enhanced that actually somebody care And that will see you from start to finish You Can I make all right one quick coming one quick suggestion Do we think jessa feels knows who um and I give Near dear to my heart. This is this is 90 football in all oh All my my soul weeps Do you think jessa feel knows who cordial steward is I would think so Kid can can can can he get can he get in math dorm room because Guys cordial steward could do it all running catching and receipt to the sir What what what if he was why receipt or four My mean they probably wouldn't let him run intermediate routes either Ha ha ha

20:58Can you run message the question well uh cordial steward couldn't go deep go kids uh, you know Imputzing yes, thank you pass blue like man cordial steward was a Freak it's oh he was a he was a child He's near and dear in my heart. I'm just look Hello, Justin welcome to Kansas City. Hope you pass your physical. My name is Eric being a me All we're gonna do for the next hour is watch cordial student highlights I need more intensity from you for gonna be Eric be in a me And I'm holding you accountable on your Eric be in a me impressed. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah You know when Ken Walker got to hate the act of the podium Yeah, when when Ken Walker got to the podium in Kansas City he said he talked to Eric be in a me And he was an intense guy and Did the kid at the Walker film review in a tent actually he was camping When he no he wasn't

21:59And just like kid at the Walker said you're gonna have to show some contact balance throughout this conversation I can imagine you're gonna be getting hit from all angles But I mean you just stand your feet when you keep the chains moving I need you to find the in zone just like Kenneth Walker what what stood out to you when you really Can't involved into his room behind trace myth all day all day everyday I I do appreciate you making really clear that I need to show balance through contact as opposed to bounce um So I tried to take a different approach with reviewing Walker's film than other people have partly because again just last week I just haven't really been on top of my game lately So it took me a little longer to write the review than I would have liked But so what I did is I reviewed every snap from the playoffs and a couple hundred from the regular season made sure to get get at least 50 in um In terms of you know the passing game whether it's protection or running routes Seattle didn't really ask him to do a ton of past protection

23:00Um because a lot of what they do is under center type stuff So you got a lot more play action different stuff like that um So the way that I wanted to do it was everyone is kind of Focusing on bringing back explosive plays to the offense which is of course a really really really big deal And that's one of the primary reasons they got him um, but I don't think that I um I don't think that I'd be adding anything to the conversation to note that he's really good at producing explosive plays He is absolutely is you've heard that let me just tell you reviewing hundreds of snaps. It's absolutely true He produces big plays at a pretty decent rate um And that's on a team that was running the ball from under center that was running the ball against a lot more loaded boxes than what the chiefs face because of the nature of the way they play the game And so he was able to consistently break off big place. So you already knew that Um, and that's a big deal and we've talked about the benefit of that

24:03Maybe we'll circle back to the end But I really wanted to look at what does he bring from a snap by snap basis because I actually reviewed some of Walker's film as a rookie um, and was not It was fine with him as a player, but I didn't actually like him as much as other people did at that time The reason being is he felt like a boomer bus guy Which is something that he's got a bit of reputation for still what I liked watching his film is that he consistently Got the most out of what was available Um, he doesn't have elite vision, but compared to what we saw from Pacheco He is pretty solid at setting his bockers up and much better than he was earlier in his career And that's where I think some of his reputation comes from because we have a tendency Especially when guys play a lot earlier in the career to assign them certain things and then it just stays that way, right He does bounce outside That is meant to be bounce by the way not balance He does bounce outside a little more quickly than he ought to sometimes

25:06But the vast majority of the time even running under center running between the tackles or running out of shotgun between the tackles He will look for what's available there and he'll also Um, what's a couple of my favorite runs he he'll he'll vary his tempo in his run To give blockers time to develop There were a couple of one that was either inside zone or duo And if you tell me that you can always tell the difference you're a liar. So whatever or the line coach And even then I've had two different online coaches say two different things and I was like wait Now let's do let's do it. Let's do it all day. We just do Zone so anyway his own Accombo block where they double team at first and then climbed to the second level Yeah, right inside one end duo He on a few different times um and even more than a few he did it consistently and update you can call it a trade to have it He'll hesitate if there's not that initial push and he'll he'll pattern his feet and give it a moment To see if they're able to generate a little more push to a rather than run straight into the backs of your offensive lineman

26:09You're giving it a minute to clear right? You're giving it a little bit to develop to push guys down the field a little bit And then that allows you to find holes that have opened up He also does a good job setting up uh defenders in terms of you know You've got let's say defensive tackle one of my favorite clips that I did include as an example this You got a defensive tackle who's trying to two gap you you press one gap to get him to flash Just helmet to that side and then you attack the other gap once he's once he's committed. Yeah, and does that he um He definitely showed a Significant improvement that the last time I'd watch this film. He's still not levy on bell. No one is that's what everyone compares him to But he's got solid vision overall and the ability to take advantage of the types of one plays that the chiefs do run Affair or chiefs do run a fair amount of inside and outside zone the difference between him and hum Excuse me. Sorry the difference between him and What the chiefs had it running back last year is that he's got both the vision and the explosiveness to take advantage of

27:16Outside zone looks he can actually hit the edge which changes the angles that defense defenses has to take in terms of closing Which then in turn opens up cutback lanes. Yes explosive enough to hit that back foot and cut up the field So I like on a snap by snap basis what I appreciated was It was consistently positive if there was anything to gain there were you know a fair number of you know one yard two yard But those were times there's just nothing there and even in those situations because he's got a good combination He's got what I guess you'd call like the uh The speed trifecta that explosive first step That acceleration and long speed so you know your first step is your first step right that explosion right out of in and out of cuts That sort of thing he can do that really really well He also accelerates well. That's your third and fourth step or you know that's your second third four step Those are he's very fast in that and he's got excellent long speed as well I think he randomly it was like a four three five or four three four or something like that

28:16he is He is a legitimate explosive play threat and people don't always realize it because he's built pretty solid He's five nine two twelve He runs well through contact not elite, but he runs well through it. He can shake tackles a little bit He can he he's got good lateral agility to where he can shake guys in space But he can also run through contact to an extent without being slowed down over really much He's just overall a A he's a he's a very good running back. He he fits Snappin and snap out a lot of the traits. They're looking for and I wanted to really focus on those things Rather than just looking at The explosiveness and that's one thing so like um Expulsiveness having the speed trifecta and I know I've kind of taken the ball and run with it for a while here But these are my ISO moments. So I just take them and it took you like six weeks to write the story We ought to give you a full 20-minute shot Oh, come on My man will see it, okay

29:17He uh, it's not the finals Josh Give him this flu for one He was the one counting his minutes. That's true. That's true. Let me show it's up He one thing that you something I've stressed repeatedly Is that being an explosive runner being a guy with some with some vision being a guy with some contact Some balance contact It it's yes, it's about oh man. He bust out a 30-yard gain But the ability to turn what would have been a stuff at a goal line to a three-yard touchdown That matters and that's where where you combine all those traits That's where you can have value on a snap-by-snap basis in addition to the explosive gains and the addition in addition to The way that affects how defenses have to play you um, I think defenses will feel a little less comfortable with too high looks And so that's it was it was it was the way he performs against loaded boxes

30:17Well, and he didn't see or against against non-loaded boxes more empty boxes He does a good job because he gets up field so quickly He's threatening that second level immediately And that allows you to when when they've got a light box you can just get those those four to six-yard gains quickly And Nate teams pay for showing you certain looks so there is There's just a lot to like on his film He doesn't have like any elite level vision that you might get out of guys that are like you know top three running back But his vision is better than advertised his explosiveness and speed is everything that it's advertised And he does he's able to run with a little bit of lean a little bit of of an angle to where he can avoid tacklers He's just has the ability to turn negative plays into You know a negative four-yard play into a stuff at the line or a stuff at the line into a two or three-yard gain into a three-yard gain into a six-yard game Like those are the differences that he can make

31:19Um and it's consistent on film and the interesting thing to me is And I don't really think there's a clutch gene for running backs. I wouldn't think But he was part of kind of a duo all season because they got another running back that they love there Um, but in the playoffs when he was asked to do the most and really carry the load by himself He played better than ever and that's really intriguing to me So that's that's a lot of pluses and I started with all of those How about that path blocking Man if they'd asked him to do it more often. I sure would have more to say about it It's um so much of it was under center play action stuff that it just doesn't there's just not a lot there to see Especially from shock up in the way the chiefs haven't do it. He looks really natural as a receiver He runs routes well. They they had them in the slot or in the boundary at times um, but he Um, there's just not a lot of information. He shows some willingness to be physical and that's a start

32:19But there's just not a lot there. You're ready to pass block your ass off. You better get in that linebacker's keyster block He's Lucky hits squeegee glutes get up in his chest. I Forgot every penny was here. I'm really sorry coach I got I got to be more accountable. They're remembered who's all here What actually just happened is I you guys couldn't see if a tucker just disappeared from this site and just texted me my Wi-Fi just went out So no I briefly I was trying to get the ball back out again like oh Mick I get the buttons the show's not going to have to be infinite but um I am furious set. This is a little bit. I don't want to fully even go into the passing game side of it You mentioned very little pass pro and I also want to get to mario marcaro who we'll talk about in a little bit because they signed him after our last show Um, but what about just the fact of what you said a second ago of like well It's so much under center and it's so little shotgun pass pro opportunities How much weight is fair to put behind that in terms of if you are concerned if you are excited

33:24We talked about the possibility that maybe that's a sign that the chiefs are gonna evolve a little bit to do more things that he did well in Seattle Also, I think there's just a chance that the chiefs are gonna ask him to function in the version of the chiefs offense that we've seen these last couple of years What way would you would you say you're leaning in terms of of where those two schools have thought me Is he gonna do more chiefy stuff or the chiefs gonna do more of what walkered in Seattle And then do you think those skills will translate it for whatever amount of time I'm guessing you'll have more RPOs in Kansas City this year than he had in Seattle last year either way Yeah, I had like 14 last year in Seattle um his ability just in fields yeah His ability to explode with the ball in his hands his ability to cut immediately once he gets the ball in his hands That bodes well for shotgun handoffs and pistol handoffs that that ability to He he definitely he has his eyes up and he's making reads before he gets the ball You get more of a head of steam if you do that being handed off from under center

34:27But he's got the ability to accelerate quickly and to change direction quickly So the skill set looks fine there he did have some handoffs from shotgun and he looks comfortable accelerating out of there It's just not something that he's done nearly as frequently. So I think they see this the traits to do it My assumption is that it's a little bit of both in that They're gonna ask him to do more of the stuff that they've done But it's also a sign that well, we're gonna alter our offense the biannemy higher um Kind of cleaning out the running back coach room um and then get him out out And then getting And then getting walker as opposed to like like ETN I think that is a sign that that's a direction they're looking more towards Now I don't think they're ever gonna build the whole plane out of it the way like Seattle did which I can understand that I mean that wouldn't make sense when patching my homes is your quarterback But I think if you up that stuff by 10% 15% your offense and he's able to do your stuff well too

35:36I it can all kind of come together like they can They can run outside zone inside zone duo out of shotgun and do it well with that group that they have Right and he has the the the physical traits to do it. There just is a bit of an extrapolation Hmm Do you have a theory on that front Nate just in terms of like how serious we all feel about the Evolutions of the offense and all of that like is Kenneth Walker a sign or is he a piece that they're gonna make fit into their into their view So my theory is Because of all the changes that have been made because of the skill set that both DeMarcato and Walker have It should give whoever the weak one upon it is and we do not know who that is yeah We'll know that in a couple months it should give them the ability to have Real concerns and questions about what we'll see and that's Even with the addition of will my homes be there will he not if he's in the lineup again?

36:38What will they have him do from a physical standpoint? I I'm saying this for everybody on the internet So that you guys realize We allow over here, okay only where games we we we watched all 17 of them games last year, okay the offense Almost In a non-combative way has to be different And he be Walker has to be part of that be the difference And whatever they do from a skill set whether they are more varied in the run game whether they have more things that Or just honestly connective in the scheme It it cannot be what it was last year Um, and they should also And I've said this before they should be a little bit more creative because you have Kenneth Walker

37:43Not because you've just done it a certain way over a certain amount of time with a certain you know Principles of a scheme not necessarily the scheme itself, but the actual principles of it all so If it were up to me This should be a great ideal session To get you ready for week one and then you should be experimenting a lot with just some fields honestly With the hope that you will get a couple of practices with my homes whether preseason or end of training camp To where you can polish it and sculpt it in a way that he is noticeably different Um, it you know Again, I'm not sure Well, that's tough to say um, and I need to be mindful of that But I just of what's in my head by the way, I just I have to think that like it cannot be the same Because there will be so many different people involved both coach you staff and personnel on the field

38:47Seth any any final kind of thoughts on the We can spend a little more time with anything else, but anything else on on Kenneth Walker that we haven't Got into he mentioned, you know that again, not a lot of past pro experience You saw him a little bit in the screen game, which is a little bit different also than being like a past catching running back Like I think that kind of implies catching the ball beyond the line of scrimmage What did you see in the screen game? Did he ever get asked to go beyond the line of scrimmage? Do you think he can if asked this year Uh, yeah, they had him line up occasionally They had him line up at the slot a few times they had him line up on the boundary a couple times And he look he looked really comfortable running routes like surprisingly comfortable running routes And so I'd love to see what they do with that on there. He ran a few speed routes speed out. It's really well He he looked he looked comfortable running a couple of angle routes. He looks comfortable changing direction All those physical traits are there and he's not bothered by contact And so he's he's really able to to do a few things there. I'd be curious to see what he can do that with an expanded role

39:49um In terms of screens Seattle has a pretty good screen game overall Um, they they set it up pretty well. You know, he he showed a lot of attention to detail He his his intentionality with his um spacing was noticeable on screens the way he would sell an initial block Not get set up too far past the line stay patient Let the let the blockers get beyond him and then just explode in the space like that that stuff all looks really impressive And it could really bring some juice back in the screen game because just way too often this last year And I think there's a reason they kind of move the way from it to an extent If they tried kind of force feet for shard Smith But when a player being on the field as a tell that makes it tough, but like They we have multiple players on a field that could tell the defense what was coming and even our all world core back couldn't fix it Yeah, that's very accurate That's one reason if he doesn't break the big juan Jennings kind of makes sense, but whatever um He ain't breaking the bank that bank has already told him he won't be broken

40:53Right is there anything going on there? I was wondering He needs to come to reality sir Okay, well you should come to reality Missouri. We're just what I got I mean, he's he would be someone that you could Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I will I'll tell you this now young fella you can wait after the draft but that one he ain't gonna change All right And so the less like Eric be enemy every time you don't even know who it sounds like at this point We are getting closer to foghorn leghorn than Eric yeah Um, I would say that the only other thing that I would like to talk about And this is just briefly because it is kind of one of those things that everyone's focusing on the The chiefs last year and there were a couple of really really good stats and I wrote about this uh when I did the film review um The chiefs ranked ninth in yards before contact last year when they handed the ball off

41:55So that means is they were ninth of the league so top ten league but how far a running back went before a defender made contact with them That's for the people are like oh, well, there's nowhere to run That that's a good step And they ranked after contact 30th in the league But and so what that tells you in in addition to the knowing that they're one of the two worst teams League of generating 10 plus yard runs for the last couple of years Part of that is their inability to break tackles their inability to shake loose from contact They're inability to and part of that stems from the angle you're getting contacted at we talked about this before if you are If you if you have more explosion you're able to mess with an angle You are hitting you're being hit by a defender who's chasing you Rather than squaring up and hitting you straight on that allows you to fight for extra two or three yards That allows you to you know, maybe break a tackle. It's more of an ankle tackle than anything else So he could potentially be a huge help with something like that

42:59And it's just worth noting the success rate of the chiefs offense like the percentage of time that they gained Positive yardage running ball was actually pretty high. It was actually higher than what Walker saw last year in Seattle Their explosive plays were way lower than what Walker saw So the idea here is that the success rate is a result of a good offensive line and a result of light boxes Right the ideas you could have that same success rate with his explosive play rate and now suddenly you've got a really dynamic Really effective run game even in that smaller sample size. So that's But what if they don't know what angles we run in that cuz who not inside gonna coach Who are you and why are now I mean I actually like the says question better Looking for tickets for your next event tickets for last is your number one source

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47:06And this year the men's final four returns to TBS on April 4th and 6th catch all the clutch shots big time plays upset Cinderella's blue bloods and more that keep you on the edge of your seat You're not going to want to miss a second of the action So tune in to the NCAA men's first four tonight at 6 p.m. Eastern on true TV and in the March Madness live app Today's show is sponsored by strawberry dot me Let me ask you something do you think championship athletes got to the top by guessing no they had coaching Every elite athlete has a coach watching their forum calling the plays and spotting the blind spots They can't see themselves That's how championships are one So why are you trying to win your career without a coach? You're grinding hoping for the promotion trying to read the politics guessing your next move That's amateur hour if you want to perform like a pro you need coaching strawberry dot me matches you with a professional career coach who breaks down your game film They help you negotiate the raise navigate workplace politics and execute a strategy that actually works

48:13Stop riding the bench in your own life go to strawberry dot me slash podcast 50 to get 50% off your first coaching session Strawberry dot me because pros don't guess they get coached to win The sun shining birds are singing and all feels right in the world Until the season changes and suddenly you lose your motivation to get out of bed In fact one in five people experience some form of depression no matter the season or time of year At the American Psychiatric Association Foundation our vision is to build a mentally healthy nation for all Because we want you to live your best life and be your best you all year round Please visit mentally healthy nation dot org to learn more I'm done talking about Kenneth Walker, so I'm just kind of I'm just literally trying to figure out who that does sound like And I still haven't found a human being that it reminds me up He reminds me of the dude. Oh, man. Who's the guy who did the one song in the Punisher? I had a good home, but I left

49:14I had a good home, but I left Right I'm gonna I'm gonna look at this while you you talk Say hello I just look I know some people don't understand The down south like foghorn Tom weights being a man. That's that's that's our south. Okay, we don't I know it's called a certain line. I like seeing the word Dixie Because it's funny. Okay, some of y'all been reaching out saying it's not Dixie. Damn it is Dixie to me Okay Now he is said he is being Nate Taylor with that voice now So we have actually ascended into a different out of one character into another Now he now he's Nate Taylor of only weird games is where we're at right there This is what he is What he does not talk like that needed a Nate Taylor of times hours. I'm telling you we switched a video And

50:15Yes We switched a video and Nate's usage rate went up and your body fat percentage went down Well, all that took was four years of me staring at my reflection thinking you I didn't I didn't I didn't save like that Look so the demersonary who signed that word another year That's talking about a maridie marcado Let's talk about a maridie marcado. That's okay. It's nice to know what I was making Ha Young fell you ready to run that neon's down the field and I dropped the ball Around the horns been canceled long enough. Do you think I could ask reality for the mute button or just Come on big desk or something Can I start giving you guys points? Is it been long enough that it wouldn't be redundant to take on around the horn style I'll tell you what how to turn around the horn style version of this show where I'm also giving myself points and muting myself I think would be pretty good Yeah, I did joy that you're pretty honest with that sort of thing So I think I think I'm I think I'm a fair critic of all three of us

51:18Yeah, you could you I don't know that there might be accountability for my action than I'm not sure. I'm a fan of that Well, that's then you picked the wrong team to cover. Oh, it's Hulk Hogan. That's what it is. Oh, no It went from Eric the enemy to Hulk Hogan. I just realized I almost said brother and I was oh, no Well, it's not about a maridie marcado He's mercenary You may remember him last year the Arizona Cardinals. He has some explosion Has a real desire a real interest in past blocking Unfortunately, we might remember last year he did not have an interest in holding the football over the last six inches of the field required The turn a long run into a touchdown I will assume that is not what he wants his NFL legacy to be Jonathan Ganon got in trouble for what he did on the sidelines I think Eric be enemy certainly Nate's version of Eric be enemy might be put in prison If a maridie marcado drops the ball short of a gold line this year So I'm not worried about that that part of his of his NFL career in Arizona

52:24What what are the chiefs getting here other than what appears to be the third down back in terms of Getting this backfield to make sense if I don't even have it done the film review but Nate's drinking so I go to you first And what Nate's drinking I'll leave to the listener because it's an opaque bottle I have my guesses are different now. They would have been before the show What do you think that news came down said that they've added a they've added another NFL running bag And not just relying on a rookie draft pick or for sure and Smith for that matter Getting a real a running back that has a real affinity for past protection I I think like the affinity for past protection thing makes you think that they're looking for someone that can be the kind of their third down back Someone to work with Smith in terms of picking up some of the ins and outs of that It was interesting to me because it would Will see they they're not treating him like a guy that they're just gonna cut loose immediately But they didn't really treat a lie to Mitchell that way either. So I think he knows um It would appear to me that the plan is those two and Smith

53:27Which is probably not the route I would have gone honestly simply because when you've got a guy who is so exceptional In short yardage situations that you also trust with past protection It's odd to me that you wouldn't bring him back because I think there's a there's a real value there But um Kenneth walkers good in short yardage too. He's just a different you know different style Yeah, then people people think that he might not be good in short yardage because you know he's not as bit But he's not a small runner, right? Um So my assumption is that they are bringing him in as kind of a third down back a guy that has said he loves doing past protection And that's kind of his thing That's how he's eaked out a long career or a long-ish you know working on for a running back career in the league and so I It would appears to me that that's the route they're gonna go is these two and Smith And I will say if if that's the route that you go in the running back room Incredibly more explosive room than what you had like you will never have a running back on the field that doesn't run like a

54:28A four four-ish 40 or less That's a big that's a big change in what they've been looking at the last year years when they were looking more at like You know reliability in certain things and knowing the scheme and that sort of stuff And so that's kind of been an interesting thing to me. It's also in terms of From like 5,000 feet in the air It it's continuing their pattern of filling out the roster with Not familiar faces like and they brought back my Kellyanne until for a year But they let him go test the market first Um then brought him back for something that's less than what you would have been had you had you tagged him So It's interesting to me. It seems like a slight shift in how they're trying to fill out the rooms lately and That's just something that you know even beyond the running back position I think is interesting that they're not just bringing back familiar faces because that really is has been kind of their M.O other than years where they've done like this big Shift in approach, you know like they they've had like they had to turn over the entire offensive line

55:31Or they had to turn over a bunch of places on defense that kind of stuff But they've really done a lot of oh, we're gonna bring back our guys And you did just not as much of that this offseason and that's Encouraging in a lot of ways I think for the cream hunt of it all um All it takes is one phone call. That's one of those relationships where it's like You know um everybody understands the circumstances Clearly he was told where the team was going same thing for Isaiah Pacheco um And While he was effective they also understand too that he's that he's he's only gonna get older and Would cream hunt be a viable option post draft? That's something that you have to consider If the chiefs don't take a player at the running back position in the draft DeMarc Hato DeMarc hates to me That maybe brishard smith Nice might not be long for this traditional runny back roll

56:34No, interesting. Can we make you a McCluster D. Anthony Thomas light Now, I don't know what that necessarily looks like Um, McClid in control Potentially um, hey, hey, we already know he can be a Blossoming returner even though you also brought back Nico Remy heo. So hey, you need two of them back there just so you know liason gentleman Uh, but I I think If the chiefs draft they runny back Thirteenth fourth six round whatever Might be the end of cream hunt's time in Kansas City And it also might spell that brishard smith's role is going to be reshaped but What this means for

57:34DeMarc Hato is hey, you are going to get an opportunity to Take the speed at a certain level regardless of who's on the field and Whoever is on the field For the chiefs if it's Walker if it's DeMarc Hato they will be faster And they will have a we would assume a greater chance for explosive rate success rate Than anybody the chiefs had on the field that wasn't brishard smith and of course as we said before We watched all seventeen in games They refused to give him the ball as if he wasn't someone who could make an impactful player to Regardless of how gimmicky they sort of treated him in the middle of the season Which again leads me to sort of think Can we lean more into that gimmicky sort of gadgety Play style versus just habit him line up Uh from under center and handing him the ball 10 to 12 times in a game as a as a secondary runner

58:35You Nate you're you're in lockstep with a couple of things I wanted to bring up in terms of the future of the room The one snippy thing I'll say is I wonder what brishard smith did wrong in the incredibly limited sample size That he got as a running back last year for them to be so ready to just move on from that But it seemed that wasn't necessarily the strategy when they drafted him like what changed from drafting him to through last season Well, well, you have to remember this is a this is a complete It's still the head coach, but it's a completely different Administration in this administration did not right. That's not a completely different administration That's not I understand what you're saying. I understand what that means though I understand yeah, we are not tied to you And for whatever reason right, if you get fired You know naggy pick for shardsmith They taught those didn't get to choose the left drastic. I love this push back There's the same administration. I don't

59:35Look scapegoach scapegoach. I didn't say that either I just that's just Guys remember that time Matt naggy took over the entire draft room and drafted a guy without anyone's permission I thought it was weird that he pouted the table so hard for Felix and he dicky is I'm a guy Listen to me listen to me. I just got here. It's mr. Holt. You call me to fix these not the song It can it look if you want to say Eric B enemy doesn't think he can play running back I guess that's fine, but that's at least cohesive right like Wouldn't that be the reverse when it be in the Here in the words that are coming out of my mouth I didn't come here Would I say I what I would I would like if it's so here's what we've heard about the running back draft class Nobody likes it everybody loves Jeremiah love and then you kind of like his teammate And then everybody else is in the rest of the draft class and Even though that's not true bizarre

1:00:37Yeah, we know that's not true that I think there's a running back in Arkansas, Mike is a mic Washington, Jr. I love it. I like every relevant Not Get him out of here, but I mean it's just like the reputation of this draft class is just that it's there's not there's there's not a lot of depth in the middle There's not like a huge well a bunch of flyers here No, there will be successful running backs. They come out of this draft class, but there's not Well, I'm saying behind that line didn't score a touchdown running the football last year You came to meet a fixed things not to find solutions in my I'm gonna find out how many carries brishard Smith took from Patrick Mahomes and then we're He need to be running around for you. Okay. Now that's why you found a solution in the screen game Well, well, well, it is a modified screen game. You know what I'm saying, but look I came With fixes and my fixes are five better players

1:01:37It sounds less like Eric be enemy every every time they go back to the well. It's really it's starting to charm me Um, look, I here's here's what I'd say about the draft. I didn't and Nate got there too, but like if if you get through the draft And you go now we don't like any of these running backs any of these positions any of these pockets in the draft Call Karim Hunt and you're definitely going to want to have at least four running backs in training camp And if he's he comes back then for basically no money and you're in brishard smith is is on the depth chart as an OW offensive weapon like that extra my cluster Then then you have a third running back and it can be that Karim Hunt Not only can be your short art is guy, but also if absolutely necessary It keeps mr. DeMarcato from having to be the number one guy if Kenneth Walker misses time And it keeps brishard Smith from having to be your past protection back if deMarcato Misses anytime. So I think a reunion with hunt post draft makes sense And I think letting brishard smith be this year's rookie running back again would make sense It it has seemed like the chiefs might not agree and the way Nate frames it now I'm anticipating that he'll be a jet by Thursday. Oh, come on. Oh

1:02:40All obscenities and someone made the comment, um, and I want to sorry. We're in that naggy go. I think he'll be a giant by 13 Oh Ron rod in the comments says 7th rounders are flyers expectations were always way too high from fans I understand that that is that is somewhat true that that it's a 7th round pick with a whole different you know position Often it's a coordinator what happens with the entire scheme as a whole as we just said the scheme needs to change As you have different circumstances with new players my homes all of that If If they didn't give him the ball last year, what makes me think they don't give him the ball more this year With better players at his position So can you be could there is Tony without the headaches? Sure Why not give it or is Tony was drafted a lot seven rounds higher than brishard But but like hey when we throw you to football can you make the first godness and it be cool and exciting and like

1:03:41Maybe you could like develop into a better partner. So that maybe nico remedio isn't our Default partner turner like I'm just you know, there's waste room to improve. There's waste room to have growth. It's just not It's just not what we thought it was going to be um because Yeah, he really didn't develop Under top peaks to now did he and he also didn't get the opportunities alongside and you read in that naggy And now they just Literally signed two players that are Better than him at his position That makes sense. I think it's wild that he had 14 caries in that blowout win over the Raiders and then 12 caries the last week of the season And that made up uh 26 of his 44 caries. I feel like I just I don't think there's a sample size there and you can write there is in practice or whatever and again I think just if they just went oops got the pick wrong maybe maybe he can go in some gadget role I definitely can't I definitely can't hear from St. Joe this year like well, you know

1:04:44For shardsmiths really looking comfortable with a slot receiver role because J. Winroyals was looking great for a couple of days in campus. I mean he's exploded. That's that true. I'm just I don't know. I Some of the I can see some of the narratives from three months away and I'm I'm Girding myself against them for Hey young fellow. I hear your name is royals, but you don't play baseball for them. You ready to take the right shout out Well, it's a new regime. They I don't know if they like J. Winroyals or not A new wild seagrass coach. Okay, Gene feel about Xavier Worthy and Rishi rice. What do we Stay in the playbook Maybe that's why they keep trying to make this kind of tackle or something because they they're like oh who knows about You know the guy we signed last year and the guy we drafted in the first round last year. Yeah, that's a good point Hey, my name is Eric me to me and you will know where the sidelines are okay under my watch Under my peaceful hot. That's a good point Seth actually that might actually me that's maybe that's Thursday's sub topic

1:05:47I'm gonna lose my mind about the tackle thing and then we can just solve it by saying it's a new administration And so Yeah, being able to join the Kingsley either. I mean, they might need a guard Being able to hear when they extend the trace myth. They might need two guards This is the first team in the history of the league to treat a new offensive coordinator who was a guy who was there for years Previously as some kind of sea change because we didn't have anybody else who could fix it. They called me back Well, yeah, you got to remember said it was the old administration that also hired all of those coaches Who are now to blame for all of the faults of the team? It's a long time in my name Is Eric me taking this other ear pod out in a second That's what you are doing an impression of We'll talk to you on Thursday You can join 14,000 members of Chiefs Kingdom by subscribing to the KCSN Daily Chiefs newsletter It's on-site Chiefs coverage from veteran award-winning beat writer Herbie T.O.P.

1:06:48Plus KCSN's team of writers be the most informed chiefs fan at KCSN.com KC Sports Network is a locally owned independent media company based at Overland Park The number one ranked chiefs coverage has paved the way for more than 10 million downloads across the network since 2021 And with more than 250,000 followers across social media KCSN now covers the chiefs royals sporting KC and KC current along with KU K State Mizzou We don't exist without you and we don't continue to grow without your friends So tell them about us you can learn more at KCSN.com and thanks again for listening The sun shining birds are singing and all feels right in the world Until the season changes and suddenly you lose your motivation to get out of bed In fact one in five people experience some form of depression no matter the season or time of year At the American Psychiatric Association Foundation our vision is to build a mentally healthy nation for all

1:07:53Because we want you to live your best life and be your best you all year round Please visit mentallyhealthination.org to learn more