Kansas City Chiefs fans and fantasy football managers want to know who will lead the Chiefs backfield in Week 3 when Kansas City faces the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football. Chiefs insider Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride believes that, despite Kansas City signing Kareem Hunt on September 17, undrafted rookie Carson Steele will be the team’s “lead back” in Week 3.
“The #Chiefs have been high on Ingram since before training camp,” Sweeney said on X in response to the Chiefs promoting Keaontay Ingram to the active roster. “Against the #Falcons, I’d anticipate Carson Steele as the ‘lead back’ and Samaje Perine as the third-down player and for specific looks. Both can pass protect. Ingram would likely be up in case of another injury.”
Chiefs Not Going to Rush Hunt Into Workload
Despite signing Hunt to the practice squad on Tuesday, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid isn’t going to rush Hunt onto the game-day roster, though he also didn’t rule out the 29-year-old back playing on Sunday.
“We’ll get him in there and get him some work. Kind of get him back in the swing of playing and we’ll just see,” Reid said of Hunt during his September 18 press conference, according to Charles Goldman of A to Z Sports. “We’ve got to get him in a position to where he’s ready to play either this [week], next week or the following week.”
Though Perine is an overall more complete back, Steele has the build and physical play style that is best suited to carry the early-down workload for the Chiefs. Because of that, he could see the biggest uptick in snaps in Week 3 among Kansas City’s running backs.
The Chiefs face the Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday, September 22 at 7:20 p.m. Central time. The game will be available to watch on NBC and Peacock.
Andy Reid Believes Kareem Hunt Has ‘Grown Up’
Big Red naturally was going to be asked about six years ago when the Chiefs cut Hunt because he lied to the organization about physically assaulting a woman at a hotel in Cleveland, OH. Hunt, who was cut by the Chiefs in December 2018, signed with the Cleveland Browns in February 2019 and was with the team until this offseason.
“He needed a change of scenery and some help. We felt like he did that,” Reid said during Wednesday’s presser, per Nate Taylor of The Athletic. “He did a nice job in Cleveland. We talked to the people there & there were no issues. We felt OK bringing him back. He’s 29 years old. Time flies. It looks like he’s grown up some.”
During his one full season in Kansas City, which was his 2017 rookie season, Hunt registered 1,327 rushing yards and 11 total touchdowns and was named to the Pro Bowl.
During his time in Cleveland, Hunt had 577 carries, 2,285 yards, and 25 touchdowns as well as 147 receptions for 1,057 yards and another seven touchdowns through the air in 64 regular season games played, according to Pro Football Reference.
Hunt re-joined the Browns on September 20, 2023, after RB Nick Chubb suffered a season-ending knee injury. During the 2023 season, Hunt ran the ball 135 times for 411 yards and scored nine rushing touchdowns in 15 regular season games played.
