INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid has said repeatedly this offseason that the Chiefs won\u2019t completely overhaul their offensive scheme after a disappointing 6-11 season.<\/p>\n
There could be at least one alteration coming, though, with general manager Brett Veach seeming to hint at it during Tuesday\u2019s interview session at the NFL Scouting Combine.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the backdrop: When asked to evaluate his team\u2019s top offensive weakness on Tuesday, Veach spoke about the ground attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly, we want to get more explosive in the running game. We\u2019ve invested in that interior,\u201d Veach said. \u201cWith (right guard) Trey Smith and (center) Creed Humphrey \u2014 two of the best in the league \u2014 and we thought (left guard) Kingsley (Suamataia) made a big step.\u201d<\/p>\n
This emphasis shouldn\u2019t be a shock. K.C. had just one 20-plus-yard rush by a running back last season, while easily ranking at the bottom of the NFL when it came to chunk carries.<\/p>\n
The Chiefs are expected to be in the market for immediate help at the position. That should start with free agency, where a talent-rich class should allow them \u2014 even on a limited budget \u2014 to find someone who could step in as an immediate starter.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, though, Veach\u2019s focus on Tuesday wasn\u2019t on that part of the personnel equation when discussing how the Chiefs\u2019 run game could improve. Instead, his words centered on how the Chiefs could lean more into their offensive line.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are three talented interior players,\u201d Veach said. \u201cSo I think, and we\u2019ve talked about it \u2014 Coach (Andy Reid) has done an amazing job with his staff cranking on that scheme eval \u2014 but I think being more explosive in the running game and really taking advantage of those interior three to impose your will on an opposing team\u2019s defense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Connect the dots here, and one can see how the Chiefs might shift in 2026.<\/p>\n
If the team wants an \u201cimpose your will\u201d type of run game, it will need to let its offensive linemen fire off the ball so they can play aggressively.<\/p>\n
And that means, more than likely, the team would need to shift away from primarily living in a \u201crun-pass option\u201d world \u2014 a setup that requires blockers to hang around the line of scrimmage for fear of getting a penalty if they venture too far downfield.<\/p>\n
The Chiefs \u2014 for good reason \u2014 have been among the NFL\u2019s top run-pass option (RPO) teams for a while. According to Sports Info Solutions, their 155 RPO runs last season were the most by any NFL team; K.C. also led the league with 168 RPO runs in 2024.<\/p>\n
These play calls have made sense in the past because they cater to quarterback Patrick Mahomes\u2019 skill set. Mahomes\u2019 strength is his quick processing, and his rare ability to throw off-platform quickly and from different arm angles has served him well as he\u2019s carved up opposing defenses in the RPO pass game.<\/p>\n
Getting those benefits, though, also meant the Chiefs were giving something back when they chose to hand it off. The team\u2019s RPO runs weren\u2019t particularly effective in 2025, per Sports Info Solutions, averaging 3.7 yards per carry (27th) and negative-0.11 expected points per attempt (26th).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s this type of analysis that Reid could be digging into as Chiefs coaches go through additional scheme evaluations after their season\u2019s early end. RPOs are certainly a stylistic choice; though the Chiefs had 155 RPO runs, a few other successful offenses, including the 49ers (12) and Rams (nine), barely used them at all.<\/p>\n
Big picture, Veach said that the Chiefs\u2019 revamping their ground game could go a long way toward offensive improvement in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe running game takes a lot of pressure off of everybody,\u201d Veach said. \u201cSo I think if we can be more explosive and more effective in the running game, obviously we can take a lot of pressure off Pat, especially coming back early in the season with the injury.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid has said repeatedly this offseason that the Chiefs won\u2019t completely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":775341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,2438,2437,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-775340","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city","11":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","12":"tag-kansascity","13":"tag-kansascitychiefs","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116131191058782330","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775340","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=775340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}