'He kind of reminds me of what Jerick McKinnon could do' — New Chiefs RB has made big impression during offseason practices

One of the best value picks the Chiefs may have made during the 2025 NFL Draft was running back Brashard Smith.

Kansas City selected Smith in the seventh round at No. 228 overall. Originally a wide receiver with the Miami Hurricanes, Smith transferred to SMU and switched to RB in 2024. He ended up rushing for 1,332 yards and 14 touchdowns, while hauling in 39 catches for 327 yards and four receiving touchdowns.

Smith will now attempt to make the Chiefs' 53-man roster come September. K.C. just wrapped up three weeks of OTAs and one week on mandatory minicamp, and will take the next five weeks off before heading to training camp in late July. While appearing on 96.5 The Fan with Jay Binkley on Friday, Chiefs' Senior Team Reporter Matt McMullen said he was impressed by Smith during offseason practices.

From Matt McMullen : "Brashard Smith is fun because the whole design of OTAs and minicamp practices is created for players like him to really showcase their talents, because you're not wearing pads. There's no live hitting. It's difficult to evaluate the linemen in these kind of camps because you're not wearing pads, it's essentially a passing camp. And for a player like him, he could really show what he could do. I think it was the third week of OTAs where one of the first plays of practice, [Patrick] Mahomes hit him on a deep wheel route down the sideline. And I just think he's going to add a little bit of juice to that backfield. You can tell he's a former receiver by how he tracks the football. It doesn't look like it's foreign to him. And this is an unfair comparison, because it's kind of apples to oranges, and Jerick [McKinnon] is a very accomplished player, but he kind of reminds me of what Jerick McKinnon can do in terms of catching the ball out of the backfield. Now, can he pass protect? That's the question. And I think that will be the challenge for Brashard in training camp, pass protection with the pads on against a linebacker charging at you. But at least so far, with what I've seen in terms of catching the ball out of the backfield and tracking the ball like a receiver and being that kind of weapon that can add some juice to this backfield, so far so good with him."