Why 7th-Round Rookie Was Chiefs’ Biggest Offseason Surprise

Boots-on-the-ground observers at Kansas City’s offseason activities will testify that Brashard Smith isn’t just another seventh-round rookie.

“Judging from how he was utilized in offseason practices, the Chiefs have plans for Smith,” beat writer Adam Teicher wrote Wednesday on ESPN.com, calling the converted running back the team’s biggest offseason surprise.

For starters, the Chiefs have skill-position speed that can burn for days and Smith fits right in. He ran a 4.39 40-yard dash at the combine this spring. Wide receivers Xavier Worthy (4.21), Hollywood Brown (4.27) and Jalen Royals (4.42), and running backs Isiah Pacheco (4.37) and Elijah Mitchell (4.38) also ran below 4.4 at their respective combines.

And while Rashee Rice (4.51) has great football quickness, he’s the slowest in the group but likely the Chiefs’ leading receiver.

Smith is a receiver, too. In fact, expect him on the other end of a decent dose of Mahomes targets, since he played wide receiver full-time at SMU until his last year with the Mustangs. He might even have more receptions than carries.

“The Chiefs showcased his versatility by getting him the ball out of the backfield, from the slot and split out wide,” Teicher noted from his sideline observations this spring.

Some see a lot of Pacheco, another seventh-round Chiefs selection, in their first impressions of Smith. Some see a lot of Jerick McKinnon. But if Smith eventually wants to simply remind people of Brashard Smith, he’ll need to first make the roster.

To do that, Mitch Holthus said earlier this spring, Smith needs to remind people of Samaje Perine.

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

The block allowed the quarterback to complete a third-and-10 pass to 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 veteran play-by-play man had a chance to watch Smith, like Teicher, at Kansas City’s offseason sessions, including minicamp.

If Smith can pick up protections, regardless of what he can do with the ball in his hands, he’ll have an even better shot at exiting the preseason on the active roster. After struggling to protect Mahomes all the way through the Super Bowl last year, the Chiefs obviously are a little sensitive this season on that topic.

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