Chiefs Nearly Paired Patrick Mahomes With Elite Rusher, Says RB

Getty Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry.

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry has had a successful NFL career which has consisted of five 1,000-yard seasons, 92 career touchdowns, and an average of 4.6 yards per carry. But according to Henry, his NFL career could have gone very differently had the Kansas City Chiefs drafted him like they said they were going to.

Speaking to The Athletic’s Joe Rexrode, Henry discussed the 2016 NFL Draft in which he was selected with the 45th overall pick by the Titans. During the conversation, Henry revealed what the Chiefs — who had the 59th overall pick — had said to him before Henry was drafted by Tennessee.

“The Chiefs told me they were gonna pick me when they had their pick,” Henry said in the article posted on The Athletic website on January 5.

In the end, Henry was selected by the Titans, and he initially didn’t understand why. Tennessee already had Demarco Murray, who went on to have 1,287 rushing yards and 9 rushing touchdowns with the Titans during Henry’s rookie season (but Murray’s NFL career didn’t last past the 2017 season, which led to the rise of Henry). Kansas City ended up trading back from pick 59 so the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could move up and select kicker Robert Aguayo.

One can’t hope but imagine what a combination of Henry, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and Patrick Mahomes would have looked like in Kansas City.

The rest of the NFL should thank the Titans for never allowing that to happen.

Matt Nagy Discusses Isiah Pacheco’s Value

The Chiefs never got Derrick Henry, but they do have second-year back Isiah Pacheco, who has become a key cog of Kansas City’s offense and is just 65 yards shy of 1,000 rushing yards on the season.

Speaking to the media on January 4, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy was asked about Pacheco and what the team is missing when he’s not in the lineup.

“Well when you look at what Pop (Isiah Pacheco) does, he’s – first of all, the football player – he’s only going to continue to get better and better,” Nagy said during his press conference. He’s learning himself, sometimes even patience through the hole, when to hit it with speed, when to be patient, let it develop. The tempo of that, he’s going to continue to grow.

“The one thing he does is go one hundred miles per hour a hundred percent of the time,” Nagy continued. “We feed off of that. He’s a young kid that’s a great personality that all he wants to do is win. Every team usually has one or two guys on the team that’s over the top with the excitement and in a good way, and he’s our guy with that so having a young guy like that that brings the juice – not just on game day – but in practice, after meetings. You know, he’s always positive, and I just appreciate that about him.”

Chiefs Sitting Some Starters vs. Chargers

The Chiefs have already locked up the No. 3 seed in the AFC before facing the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18.

Kansas City’s final injury report for its regular season finale included four players listed as out for the game: receivers Rashee Rice (hamstring) and Kadarius Toney (hip/ankle), cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (calf), and offensive tackle Donovan Smith (neck).

The Chiefs players listed as questionable for Sunday’s outing include Pacheco (quad/shoulder), linebacker Nick Bolton (wrist/abdomen), cornerback Trent McDuffie (shoulder), and defensive ends George Karlaftis (NIR) and Mike Danna (NIR).

Mahomes (ankle) is listed as doubtful to play in Week 18.