Kareem Hunt: How Chiefs won the NFL Draft and perhaps much more

Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt is one of the breakout stars of the season. But how did the Chiefs find this impact player in the third round of the draft?

The secret to winning at the NFL Draft is to get the most for less. The top of the draft is where the perceived best talent is supposed to be. The system is set up for a combination of the biggest, fastest and most explosive athletes to go to the worst teams in the league. But what of a diamond in the rough like Kareem Hunt?

There are times when some of the best players in the NFL Draft slips through the cracks. Only good scouting and instincts on the part of personnel managers can find them. Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt is a prime example of this.

Hunt is not only an instant impact player for the Chiefs. He’s one of the major reasons they are the only unbeaten team left in the NFL. Through four games Kareem Hunt is leading the league in rushing with 502 yards and averaging an amazing 7.4 yards per carry.

He also has proven to be a good receiver out of the backfield with 13 receptions, averaging 12.1 yards per catch and he has 6 TD’s on the season. So how did a player like this slide to the third round of the draft where the Chiefs traded up to get him?

Why wasn’t Kareem Hunt taken sooner?

Probably because he played at Toledo instead of at a power 5 school. Sometimes scouts tend to look down on players from the smaller conferences. However, I think going to Toledo is one of the major reasons why Kareem Hunt is so good.

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Because every game he played, every player on the opposing defense was geared up to stop him. Not that it was 11 on 1, because it wasn’t. But you can see by the way he runs that Hunt’s instincts as a runner were forged by constantly dealing with multiple tacklers at once and defeating them. 4,945 yards at Toledo is proof of this. In spite of facing tremendous odds, Kareem Hunt excelled anyway.

When I watch NFL defenses try to stop Hunt, it’s like they can’t believe what’s he’s doing to them. Hunt is not only quick but extremely powerful. On several occasions I saw Washington Redskins defenders have to leave the game with minor injuries after trying to tackle Kareem Hunt.

That’s not a knock on those defenders, it’s just a testament to how strong Hunt is. And yet every team in the league had a chance to draft him but only the Chiefs did. They knew precisely where he would go in the draft and traded up to get him because they knew he would be a steal for them.

Now the Chiefs are reaping the benefits for taking a player at a point in the draft where no other team had. They have a potential superstar on their hands and Hunt has helped elevate the Chiefs from just a playoff team into a Super Bowl contender.

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The play of quarterback Alex Smith, Travis Kelce and linebacker Justin Houston has as well. And yes the Chiefs would still be good without Hunt, but look how much better they are with him. This is a masterful job of winning at the NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs and kudos to their personnel department.