KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ In a stunning move Friday night, the Chiefs released second-year running back and last season's NFL rushing champion Kareem Hunt in the wake of a TMZ video that surfaced earlier in the day. The video of a previously reported incident at a Cleveland hotel in February showed Hunt shoving and kicking a woman in a hallway.
The team clearly stated intentions to sever ties with Hunt, writing in a statement that he will be released "immediately." The abominable actions of Hunt on the video certainly should not be glossed over or disregarded in the grand scheme of the discourse.
But from an on-field standpoint the Chiefs players and coaching staff must attempt to retrain their focus on the Oakland Raiders with less than two full days before the teams take the field at the Oakland Coliseum.
The Chiefs (9-2) travel to the West Coast on Saturday, where they'll play their AFC West rivals at 3:05 p.m. Sunday. Hunt's absence will undoubtedly play a role in the performance of one of the league's most-productive offenses.
Hunt had accounted for 1,202 yards from scrimmage (824 rushing, 378 receiving) and 14 touchdowns in 11 games. He'd accounted for 65 percent of the team's rushing yards, and the next-highest rushing total belongs to quarterback Patrick Mahomes (186 yards).
Spencer Ware becomes the immediate replacement for Hunt as the starting running back. Ware, who rebounded from a potentially career-threatening injury last season, ascends to the role of featured running back.
Ware accumulated 1,368 total yards (914 rushing) for the Chiefs in 14 games in 2016. Then on Aug. 25, 2017 against the Seahawks in Seattle, Ware tore the PCL and LCL in his knee after catching a pass and getting twisted as he was tackled. He missed the 2017 season as a result.
Through 11 games this season, Ware has rushed 22 times for 124 yards (5.6 yards per carry) and one touchdown. He's also caught 14 passes for 165 yards.
The Chiefs' revolving door in the backfield has been an ongoing theme since 2014 when Jamaal Charles rushed for more than 1,000 yards for the second consecutive season. The following season Charles tore an ACL, and little-known Charcandrick West stepped in as the primary running back and started nine games. Ware took over as the primary back in 2016, and Hunt took over as a rookie following Ware's injury last preseason.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid discussed his approach to the running back position earlier this season as the team prepared to face the Pittsburgh Steelers, who'd plugged in James Conner as a replacement for Le'Veon Bell.
"I saw (Former Green Bay Packers general manager) Ron Wolf do this _ and he's a Hall of Famer," Reid said. "When I got into the league, I was surprised that more teams didn't do what we did at Green Bay where we had multiple running backs that can play. That's a rough, rough position. That position is a short life span for playing football, like a two-and-a-half, three-year average. So Ron went out and got guys. The Edgar Bennetts, Dorsey Levenses, and he brought them in and he felt like we could just play them."
Of course, Reid's comments were in regard to the high injury risk of the position. The Chiefs now have three traditional running backs on their 53-man roster in Damien Williams, Darrel Williams and Ware along with fullback Anthony Sherman. Darrel Williams has been active for just one game this season against the Arizona Cardinals, and he has not carried the ball.
West, who the team cut during training camp, remains a free-agent option. He signed with the New York Jets shortly after being cut by the Chiefs, but he did not make the Jets' roster out of training camp.
At the time of West's release on Aug. 22, Reid spoke highly of him.
"You are talking about one of my all-time favorite guys," Reid said. "Great personality. He will hook on with somebody. It's the way this league works, so we felt like we'd give him an opportunity here to hook on with somebody. All these guys aren't going to make it and that's probably how it was going to go there. But this gives him a great opportunity to go hook on with another team."
