To Make Chiefs Roster, Rookie RB Needs to Do This

Chiefs rookie running back Brashard Smith reminds some of Isiah Pacheco and others of Jerick McKinnon. But if Smith wants to succeed as an NFL player, Mitch Holthus recommends that Smith learn from Samaje Perine.

Last December at home against the Chargers, down 17-16 with under five minutes remaining in the game, Perine made a crucial block. Seconds before an untouched Derwin James ear-holed Patrick Mahomes on a blitz up the middle, Perine crossed the backfield to ear-hole James.

The block allowed the quarterback to complete a third-and-10 pass to Xavier Worthy, preserving the game-winning drive that ended with Matthew Wright’s walk-off field goal. It also demonstrated to Holthus why learning protections are so critical for a young NFL running back like Smith, the Chiefs’ seventh-round selection out of Southern Methodist. The veteran play-by-play man had a chance to watch Smith at Kansas City’s rookie minicamp last week.

“The instinct that he has as a running back and his ability to be involved at a first-level or second-level area to catch the football I think showed up,” said Holthus, the Chiefs’ veteran play-by-play man on this week’s edition of the Defending the Kingdom podcast. “Now, protections? For any guy coming into the NFL at running back, and particularly with Brashard being only a one-year running back at SMU, you’ve gotta get this down fast track because the protections are way more complicated than college.”

Carson Steele picked up those complicated protections a year ago and made the final roster as a non-drafted free agent. And while Steele and Smith are competing for one of those last roster spots this year, they’re different players. For starters, Smith not only transferred from Miami (Fla.) to SMU after his junior year, he also transitioned from wide receiver to running back.

“Nothing against college coaching, but it's just different,” Holthus said. “In the NFL, how sophisticated it's getting with pass rush and coverage, and in the NFL … as a running back, you better understand protections.”

If he can get those down, there’s no doubt Smith has great hands as a target in the passing game. He also has a 4.37 speed, making him an enticing candidate to return kicks, especially in the new era of the dynamic kickoff.

In March, NFL owners approved a change to kickoff rules, giving the offense the ball at the 35-yard line on touchbacks in hopes of increasing the number of kickoff returns.

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