{"id":772670,"date":"2026-02-24T07:18:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T07:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/772670\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T07:18:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T07:18:28","slug":"chiefs-path-back-to-2026-relevancy-dependent-on-1-key-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/772670\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs’ path back to 2026 relevancy dependent on 1 key position"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chiefs’ path back to 2026 relevancy dependent on 1 key position<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When it comes to the long list of offseason items the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> have to work through, fans have an idea of what should be at the top.<\/p>\n

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And that’s a pass rusher.<\/p>\n

Last season, the Chiefs’ defense struggled to get consistent pressure on the quarterback, as too much was left to too few.<\/p>\n

But there’s another position that you could argue is more important, and that’s running back. Both Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt are free agents, and the Chiefs need a true difference-maker out of the backfield.<\/p>\n

And for Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame, getting a genuine weapon in the run game has to be Kansas City’s top priority.<\/p>\n

“With Pacheco\u2019s lack of vision and Hunt\u2019s dearth of speed, Kansas City\u2019s ground game was dead on arrival,” Verderame wrote<\/a>. “This offseason, general manager Brett Veach\u2019s top priority should be finding a dynamic threat to place behind Mahomes.\u00a0They could also use their No. 9 pick on Notre Dame\u2019s Jeremiyah Love if he\u2019s available.”<\/p>\n

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More:\u00a0Analyst reveals incredible reason Chiefs will hit the over in 2026 win projection<\/a><\/p>\n

Who could Chiefs target?<\/p>\n

Free agency looms as a key spot to land a genuine difference-maker and a known commodity, with Breece Hall and Travis Etienne the two most mentioned.<\/p>\n

Either would be a significant upgrade for the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

Then there’s the draft, and the Chiefs hold the No. 9 pick, and in some mock drafts, running back Jeremiyah Love is selected by Kansas City. He’s a difference-maker too, but isn’t a known NFL commodity.<\/p>\n

Either way, I’m sure Chiefs Kingdom would be happy with either of those three, and if one were to eventuate, Kansas City’s run game will be vastly improved in 2026.<\/p>\n

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More NFL news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chiefs’ path back to 2026 relevancy dependent on 1 key position originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2063],"tags":[487,346,71321,7,3188,118,110,2438,2437,751,9407,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-772670","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-breece-hall","9":"tag-chiefs","10":"tag-difference-maker","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-isiah-pacheco","13":"tag-kansas-city","14":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","15":"tag-kansascity","16":"tag-kansascitychiefs","17":"tag-kareem-hunt","18":"tag-matt-verderame","19":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116124392493197733","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}