Kansas City

Chiefs

What is clear in the wake of the Chiefs waiving Emari Demercado is that they don’t really have another player that qualifies as a passing-down back besides Walker without squinting. The other backs they kept are Emmett Johnson, a Day 3 rookie, and Brashard Smith, a gadget player without enough size to really block. Perhaps the Chiefs will address this in street free agency ahead of the season, but as things stand, it certainly seems like Walker will be involved on all three downs.

Demercado enters a wide open backfield depth chart behind starter Javonte Williams and primary backup Malik Davis, the two of whom were the only running backs to survive 53-man roster cuts Sunday. It does not appear the Cowboys are finished adding to their backfield, with most teams keeping four running backs on the active roster throughout the season. More to come.

Demercado’s departure leaves rookie RB Emmett Johnson and second-year RB Brashard Smith to back up starting RB Kenneth Walker. The Chiefs also waived DE Vincent Anthony, LB Kam Arnold, WR Andrew Armstrong, WR Wesley Bissainthe, DT Cole Brevard, WR Jason Brownlee, WR Jacob De Jesus, OT Ethan Driskell, WR Omari Evans, OT Chukwuebuka Godrick, LB Cam Jones, WR Xavier Loyd, S Tanner McCalister, DT Amari McNeill, C Pete Nygra, RB Jaydn Ott, DT Damon Payne, CB D’Arco Perkins-McAllister, TE Mason Pline, S DeShon Singleton, CB Melvin Smith, EDGE Tyreke Smith, OG Josh Thompson, CB Zelmar Vedder, TE Tre Watson and WR Jeff Weimer. The Chiefs released LB Cole Christiansen, CB Kaiir Elam, CB Kader Kohou and EDGE Emmanuel Ogbah. The Chiefs placed DT Omarr Norman-Lott (knee) on the reserve/physically unable to play list and WR Jimmy Holiday on injured reserve. The Chiefs also waived OG C.J. Hanson, QB Chris Oladokun and RB EJ Smith with injury designations.

Pole signed with the Chiefs as a UDFA last year. He didn’t make their final roster and spent some time on the Jets’ practice squad before returning to the Chiefs late in the season. Pole went on to make four starts at left tackle late in the year and played reasonably well. His release is a bit of a surprise.

The former first-round pick is back on the market. Elam spent time on the Cowboys’ and Titans’ rosters last year after a three-year stint with the Bills. He has decent odds of landing with another team at age 25.

The Chiefs let most of their starters take the field in this game and Allen wasn’t among them. He didn’t see a snap until after Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, and Tyquan Thornton had all left the contest. His first target didn’t come until the third quarter, and it was a drop on a high throw. The rookie rebounded with a 12-yard gain for a first down on the very next play. After playing well into the second half of the team’s final preseason game, Allen is, at best, the Chiefs’ WR4 entering the season. Despite the strong training camp, he shouldn’t be in starting fantasy lineups for Week 1.

Johnson added two catches for 15 yards and had another chunk gain through the air called back because of a penalty. Kenneth Walker didn’t play in this contest, allowing Johnson to draw the start with some of KC’s first-team offense on the field. Johnson split reps with Emari Demercado over the team’s first three drives, then left the game for good. He looks like the team’s No. 2 back, though all three backs have been the next man up behind Walker at some point during the preseason. Johnson isn’t guaranteed the backup job, but he’s now the favorite, putting him in the mix as a late-round flyer in deeper fantasy leagues.

Taylor stops short of declaring Allen a starter in three-wide receiver sets, so he is likely still stuck in the No. 4 wide receiver spot. The fifth-round rookie has at least carved out a role for himself, and Taylor dubs him “the biggest winner in camp.” Allen is a worthwhile late-round pick at this time.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid and QB Patrick Mahomes believe last season’s run game failed to make defenses respect their play-action run fakes. With Walker now on board, the Chiefs believe both the run game and play-action game will improve. The staff has catered to Walker by installing more plays from under center, which Walker prefers to shotgun. “One way Walker can help transform the offense,” per Taylor, “is by becoming a true dual-threat player.” Reid believes Walker’s “receiving skills and ability to make defenders miss” will allow Reid to incorporate “one of his favorite passing concepts: the variety of plays where a play-action fake to the running back is executed before a short screen pass is thrown back to the same running back.” Walker should be expected to handle a high-end, dual-threat workload. He is a locked-in RB1 with immense upside.

Mahomes will sit the entire preseason, though that shouldn’t be taken as an indication that he won’t be ready for Week 1. He suffered a torn ACL and LCL in Week 15 last year, which would normally make the 2026 opener a tight turnaround. Superstars just recover differently from other players. Mahomes has had no issues throwing or running during training camp and his absence from the preseason is likely a precautionary measure from Andy Reid and the Chiefs. We fully expect him to take on the Broncos when Week 1 rolls around.