How could you not dream about the idea of Jeremiyah Love in the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense? Some of head coach Andy Reid’s best work has come with all-purpose backs like Brian Westbrook, Jamaal Charles and Kareem Hunt.

It’s fun. It’s exciting. It would be a return to fireworks on offense for the Chiefs.

If you haven’t watched Love’s highlights, you should find the time. He makes everything look easy. It’s almost as if he’s gliding on the football field. His stops and starts are immediate. He is capable of running through or around would-be tacklers. He has the vision to wiggle through tight spaces in short-yardage situations or near the goal line. He’s also a worthwhile receiver out of the backfield.

Pro Football Focus credits him with just one fumble in his entire collegiate career. If you were evaluating prospects in this draft without accounting for positional value, he might be the best football player of the bunch.

The fit in Kansas City is about more than just Love’s talent, though. An overhaul in the running back room feels necessary this offseason; the position especially needs more juice.

Isiah Pacheco appeared to be that back during his breakout campaign in 2023 when he accounted for five carries of 30 or more yards, but that was just an outlier. Chiefs running backs had six such carries in total between the 2020-2022 and 2024-2025 seasons.

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry had seven carries of 30 or more yards last season; Love finished with 15 carries of 30 or more yards over the past two years at Notre Dame.

It’s hard to move the ball consistently in the NFL nowadays; burst and explosiveness are needed. Love will add that for whichever team selects him in the first round.

I just don’t see a scenario in which it would make sense for that team to be the Chiefs. Not with a top-10 pick. Not with the way the NFL’s offseason is structured.

This is when reality kicks in

I understand anyone who prefers to stay in fantasyland. It’s late January, and we still have months before we reach this year’s NFL Draft. I just can’t help myself. I’m a pragmatist at heart.

General manager Brett Veach’s approach to the offseason has always been to enter the NFL Draft with a roster he would feel comfortable playing with on opening night. It’s a smart approach. It allows Veach to take the best player available, regardless of position, to some degree.

An example of this played out last offseason.

Veach knew he couldn’t go into the season without a significant addition at left tackle; he couldn’t assume that answer would present itself late in the first round. An investment was necessary in free agency, and Jaylon Moore was the answer. Moore’s presence meant the Chiefs had a clear plan at a premium position regardless of how the draft played out.

If Veach knew then what he knows now — that Josh Simmons would be available late in the first round — would he have signed Moore? Probably not. But he didn’t have that information at the time. He had to insulate himself from the possibility that a starting option wouldn’t be there when the Chiefs selected. They couldn’t enter the draft without an answer at such an important position. It was an expensive insurance policy to protect Patrick Mahomes.

A similar scenario could present itself this offseason, this time at the running back position.

Kansas City will have to decide the plan of attack for improving running back far before knowing if Love will be available or not with the ninth overall pick. That likely means attacking the position in free agency, which comes with a cost.

To sign any of the top six backs in free agency, the Chiefs would have to pay a significant premium for a position the team hasn’t valued at that rate in the past.

Chiefs running back spending in the Mahomes era, per Over The Cap:

2018 – $3.8 million (26th)2019 – $6.7 million (15th)2020 – $5 million (25th)2021 – $5.4 million (25th)2022 – $6.3 million (17th)2023 – $6 million (19th)2024 – $4.3 million (29th)2025 – $4.9 million (31st)

Pro Football Focus has contract projections associated with each of their top 50 free agents heading into the offseason. Nine running backs fit into that criteria.

Breece Hall – 3 years, $37 million ($25 million guaranteed)Travis Etienne – 3 years, $34.5 million ($22.5 million guaranteed)Kenneth Walker – 3 years, $27 million ($20 million guaranteed)Javonte Williams – 3 years, $23 million ($13.5 million guaranteed)Tyler Allgeier – 2 years, $18 million ($5 million guaranteed)Rico Dowdle – 2 years, $17 million ($11.5 million guaranteed)Rachaad White – 2 years, $11 million ($8 million guaranteed)J.K. Dobbins – 1 year, $5.5 million ($3.5 million guaranteed)Najee Harris – 1 year, $1.3 million ($350,000 guaranteed)

Let’s say the Chiefs go the “cheap” route and sign Allgeier or Dowdle. That would likely account for roughly $5 million against the cap in the 2026 season. Doubling down on the position with Love would also come with a hefty price: Kelvin Banks Jr., the ninth-overall selection last year, signed a four-year deal worth $28 million. His first year had a cap hit of $5 million.

Are the Chiefs suddenly spending eight figures and utilizing a top-10 overall selection to fix the running back position? Some may believe that’s the best use of resources. Reasonable minds can disagree. I certainly don’t view it that way. This team has too many holes at too many valuable positions to spend that much precious capital on the backfield.

I marvel at the idea of Jeremiyah Love in a Chiefs uniform. I wouldn’t be opposed to that outcome if the draft were held in March and free agency took place in April. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality we live in.

Love is going to make an NFL fan base very happy. If Veach continues to operate the way he has in the past, I would be surprised if that fan base is located in Kansas City.