Why Darwin Thompson Should Make the Chiefs' 53-Man Roster
With the selection of Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the first round of the 2020 Draft and Damien Williams' decision to opt out of the 2020 season, the Kansas City Chiefs' starting running back situation is pretty much settled for this season and likely for the rest of Edwards-Helaire's rookie deal. Edwards-Helaire is a tremendous talent and no other running back on the roster can come close to matching his skills as a receiver, but the Chiefs will have to fill out the depth chart behind him.
Behind Edwards-Helaire, Darrel Williams, DeAndre Washington, Elijah McGuire and Darwin Thompson will battle for either two or three backup spots on the final roster, with another likely making the practice squad, which will increase from 10 to 12 this season.
Let's start with the running back who is least-likely to make the final roster: McGuire. McGuire is heading into his fourth NFL season after spending his first two seasons with the Jets and last season on the Browns' and Chiefs' practice squads. In his time in New York, McGuire had 179 carries, 594 rushing yards, 3.32 yards per carry and four rushing touchdowns, as well as 36 receptions, 370 receiving yards, 10.28 yards per reception and two receiving touchdowns. Those 3.32 yards per carry would be in the bottom-five for yards per carry (150+ carries) in each of the last three seasons. Granted, he also had 0.77 yards before contact per carry in that time, which gives him a slight pass for this, but his Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade was also pretty middling with a career rushing grade below the average grade of 60. McGuire seems worthy of a practice squad spot, but is still certainly my fifth running back of the group at this point.
Next, we have the running back I would choose to be the number two spot: Washington. The Chiefs signed Washington in free agency in April after four seasons with the Raiders. In 2019, Washington had the best season of his career with career-highs in scrimmage yards (679), receiving yards (292), rushing touchdowns (three) and PFF grade (76.5). Washington was among the best receiving backs in the NFL in 2019 with the ninth-highest PFF receiving grade among running backs (80.8). I think Washington's role as a good backup receiving back could be of use in this offense, even though Edwards-Helaire will rightly get the priority for passes to running backs.
Now we have the third spot between Williams and Thompson, both of whom were involved in the 2019 season for the Chiefs. They could both make the roster and I wouldn't mind it, but let's go under the assumption that only one makes the team. Thompson had a great season at Utah State in 2018, with 1,411 scrimmage yards, 16 total touchdowns and the best PFF Elusive Rating among all college running backs (176.6). Thompson was then drafted in the sixth round by the Chiefs in the 2019 Draft and the hype started to flare up before the Chiefs signed LeSean McCoy and it became clear that Thompson would have to fight even harder for his playing time.
Through the first 11 games, Thompson had just five carries, but in Week 13, Thompson's moment finally came and he made an impact, tallying 11 carries for 44 yards, three first downs, three avoided tackles and a touchdown. He followed this up with more impactful moments in three of the next four games, with 36 receiving yards in Week 14 vs the Patriots, 38 rushing yards including two 10+ yard runs in Week 15 vs the Broncos and 16 yards after contact out of 17 rushing yards in Week 17 vs. the Chargers.
Thompson showed that he could translate that ability to fight through contact and gain yards after it, having 2.67 yards after contact per carry. Williams, however, has struggled to show that same ability, having 1.84 yards after contact per carry in his career. This is despite them having nearly the same yards per carry (Thompson 3.5, Williams 3.4), meaning that Thompson has been given far fewer yards before contact than Williams and still edged him out in total yards per carry. This is likely the same reason why Williams has the touchdown edge on Thompson so far: Williams has had the better blocking.
Another advantage on Thompson's side is that he is nearly two years younger than Williams and has three more years on his contract, while Williams is on the final year of his contract. This shouldn't be a crucial aspect if the Chiefs are choosing between one of them, but it is an additional thing to consider as a tiebreaker.
Thompson is a talented player with a promising future if given the opportunity he ought to get, whether it be with the Chiefs or another team. While I like "Darrel The Barrel" and I would have no problem with his inclusion on the 53, I would prefer Thompson to join Edwards-Helaire and Washington with his higher potential, youth and extra years of control.
