Elijah Mitchell’s roster spot raises baffling questions about Chiefs’ offense

Breaking news: the Kansas City Chiefs have a backfield problem.

Of course, no one is really surprised by this. In fact, many of us in Chiefs Kingdom saw this problem coming for the entirety of the offseason, as it became clear that the position was going to be overlooked. Now, after a few marginal attempts to strengthen that part of the roster, the Chiefs are sinking offensively under the weight of key injuries, silly mistakes, and that uninspiring backfield.

One of the rare attempts to address the running back position this offseason came when general manager Brett Veach entered a Flying J and asked for a cheap lottery ticket. The cashier handed him the remnants of Elijah Mitchell, a former running back for the San Francisco 49ers who established new rookie records for the franchise back in 2001.

The reason Mitchell was so readily available came down to his irrelevance in the league for the last three seasons. Mitchell has 130 total carries in the last three years, an average of 43, and he was out for the entire year in 2024. A hamstring injury that came after another hamstring injury robbed him of last year, and before that, he was limited by head, shoulders, knees, and toes (actually, it was finger, shoulder, knee, groin, and rib injuries, but those aren't necessarily musical when paired together).

Elijah Mitchell is either going to improve or impede the Chiefs' backfield—and they need to decide which one.

Whatever acceleration and agility Mitchell displayed with the 49ers back when Derrick Gore was a member of the Chiefs' ground game should not have been part of any offseason "plan" in 2025. As a roster flyer? Sure. As an option the team might rely on? Not at all.

What is interesting about Mitchell's current spot on the roster is that he never quite looked the part in the preseason, but he also stuck around the depth chart. Other developmental RBs came and went and Mitchell stayed. When initial roster cuts were due, Mitchell was also there. Now on Sundays, through two weeks, Mitchell is still present—as a healthy scratch.

That wouldn't be so intriguing if the state of the Chiefs' ground game weren't so frustrating. Isiah Pacheco is not getting the job done as a lead back. Kareem Hunt is fine in short-yardage situations, but as a pair, the Chiefs might have the least dynamic backfield in the NFL. Brashard Smith was drafted as an upside play, but he's a seventh-round choice who earned a single touch in Week 2. Clearly, he's not saving the offense anytime soon.

So why isn't Mitchell getting in the game? If the Chiefs like him enough to keep him around, how is he still sitting on the shelf when the entire unit is clearly underperforming?

On Sunday, the Chiefs had passes to both Pacheco and Hunt in the flats and both fell as soon as they saw the single defender coming at them. It was a(nother) sad confirmation of the lack of dynamism surrounding Patrick Mahomes. No one else seems capable of carrying anything if it's not clear in front of them (and even in Pacheco's case, that's not a given).

Mitchell was supposed to be another Jerick McKinnon-type of find as a third-down back. Instead, Brashard Smith is active, yet he's also unused. It's just a baffling exercise all around. Why keep Mitchell on a roster and let a prospect like offensive tackle Esa Pole go during roster cuts if the former is not going to add anything to a needy position?

The Chiefs have more than one question at running back, which is why Elijah Mitchell concerns are rather minimal compared to the rest of the noise. But it's still a question worth asking. Either he can be an improvement or an impediment.