The quarterback sneak is back on the menu for the Chiefs after signing Carson Wentz

The Kansas City Chiefs might have solved one of their biggest problems with their latest free agent acquisition. 

On Oct. 17, 2019, against the Denver Broncos, a key offensive play was torn out of Chiefs HC Andy Reid's playbook, never to be used again. Patrick Mahomes suffered a freak injury on a QB sneak and the brass in Kansas City decided the risk of the play was no longer worth the reward, even if that reward is a play that yields over 80% success rate. 

Ever since that game, it has been a point of frustration for the coaching and personnel staff. 

"I joke with Coach [Andy Reid] all the time," Chiefs GM Brett Veach said on SiriusXM at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. "I say, 'We need to get an athletic quarterback just to do a quarterback sneak.' Because we can't run the quarterback sneak anymore and it drives everybody crazy. Everyone knows that when it's fourth-and-inches, you know it's not going to be a sneak. We were laughing, the one game against Miami that we played in Germany, they vacated the area over the center. You or I could have gotten a quarterback sneak. We sat there and we're like, 'Are you kidding me?' They're basically point-blank saying there is no way they're going to run the play." 

The Chiefs' newest backup QB, Carson Wentz, could certainly be the answer to that problem in Kansas City. At an athletic 6-foot-5 and 237 pounds, Wentz has proven to be an extremely tough player to stop from gaining a yard on third and fourth down. 

Wentz is one of the league's best at the QB sneak

Before Jalen Hurts and the "Tush Push" play, Wentz converted QB sneaks at an extremely high clip with the Philadelphia Eagles.

He converted 21 consecutive QB sneak attempts before his first flub with the Eagles. During his last four seasons in Philly, Wentz converted 40-of-46 carries on third-and-1, fourth-and-1, and one-yard goal-to-go situations. For the mathematically challenged, that rounds up to an 87% success rate for Wentz.

Now, some of you might be saying, "Everyone is going to know it's a sneak when Wentz comes into the game." Most of the time defenses know what's coming on those plays anyway, and they're still unable to stop it. The only thing proven to stop it is a dislocated kneecap. 

Another expected retort, "Well, Creed Humphrey is no Jason Kelce."

You're right, and that's no disrespect to Creed. However, now that Jason has retired from the league, maybe he'll be compelled to visit his old coach and brother at training camp. I'm sure he might have some pointers for Humphrey regarding that play that he's become known for. Even if Jason doesn't reveal trade secrets, Wentz has the strength and size to make quick work of those situations behind an offensive interior featuring Humphrey, Joe Thuney, and Trey Smith.