On Tuesday morning, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid sat down with reporters at the NFL’s annual league meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, providing further thoughts on the status of injured quarterback Patrick Mahomes, among other notes on the 2026 season.
“Every player is different,” Reid began. “I would never bet against him. He’s always going to put in the time and effort, and always push it, but within reason, so he doesn’t take steps back. So far, it’s all been positive.”
Reid also noted that tight end Travis Kelce is expected to be at the team’s mandatory minicamp in early June, even with a “busy summer coming up,” according to Jesse Newell of The Athletic.
As Chiefs Kingdom awaits the return of its MVP quarterback, the offense will be undergoing a makeover regardless, from the coaching staff to the way it works with newcomers like running back Kenneth Walker III and quarterback Justin Fields.
On Walker, Reid noted his impact in the run game in shotgun formations and under-center looks. Let’s use NFL Next Gen Stats to take a closer look at the coach’s perspective:
In 2025, Walker had 286 rushing attempts over 20 regular-season and postseason games for the Seattle Seahawks. Only 18% of those carries came in shotgun formation.
- From shotgun: 51 attempts, 252 yards (4.9 yards/attempt) and three touchdowns.
- Eight runs of 10 or more yards (16% of attempts)
- From under center: 225 attempts, 1,068 yards (4.7 yards/attempt) and six touchdowns.
- 34 runs of 10 or more yards (15% of attempts)
For the Chiefs’ new back, an explosive play was just as likely to happen whether he aligned to the side or behind the quarterback, backing up Reid’s response to reporters.
This is significant because it doesn’t necessarily dissuade Kansas City from continuing to heavily rely on shotgun formations in the run game.
For the 2025 regular season, the Chiefs ran the third-most plays from shotgun formation (811). Coincidence or not, the team ranked in the bottom half of the NFL in basic rushing metrics. It feels clear that the league’s top offenses are utilizing under-center formations to get the most out of the run game; as a matter of fact, the top-5 teams by plays run out of shotgun were not playoff teams.
The re-hire of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and bringing on running backs coach DeMarco Murray point to the organization’s desire to improve the run game, but it is yet to be determined if that will show up in the scheme or just in the output from the team’s ballcarriers.
As for Fields, another newcomer with dynamic, explosive rushing ability, Reid expressed the belief that the team’s new backup quarterback is “more than a gadget guy.” The head coach “didn’t dismiss the possibility” of Fields having specific packages to utilize him with the starting offense.
The Arrowhead Pride staff has imagined how Fields’ rushing skills could be utilized by the Chiefs, but Reid used his time talking to the media to portray confidence in the second-string quarterback as a signal caller with the Super Bowl MVP on the mend.
