Eric Bieniemy’s return to the Kansas City Chiefs could impact direction of one major offseason decision
Eric Bieniemy is going to play a big role in the future of the Kansas City Chiefs’ running back position.
The Kansas City Chiefs have made it official, bringing back two-time Super Bowl champion offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy after three seasons away from the team.
Bieniemy’s return to Kansas City could have a massive impact on the shape of the Chiefs’ running back room moving forward. The team has just two players at the position under contract for the 2026 NFL season, with 2025 seventh-round pick Brashard Smith and reserve/future signing ShunDerrick Powell.
Chiefs HC Andy Reid knows it’s a position group that needs to be revamped for the 2026 NFL season and beyond after failing to generate enough explosive plays in 2025.
“Yeah, so you always go to your play action game, and you look at it, and you check to see what kind of reaction you’re getting from the defense,” Reid said in his final presser of the season. “Normally, if you get a reaction, then you’re putting those guys in a recovery mode, which normally opens up the middle of the field in a decent way. So, we’re not getting enough of a reaction out of them. So, however you take that, that could be because of the run game, that could be because of the action that we’re showing. There wasn’t enough respect there that needs to be given. So, we’ve got to run the ball more efficiently, especially on first or second down on those run downs in those run situations, just to stay positive with that. Somewhere you’d like to have a few bigger plays in that area. Not three (or) four yards, every once in a while, you need to hit on a few. So, I would say that there’s a part of it for that, there’s part of it we can look at the action that we’re giving the guys and are we executing right, are we giving them the right things to execute, and so on.”
Not only does Bieniemy have experience working with both of the team’s pending free agents at running back, Kareem Hunt (2017/2018) and Isiah Pacheco (2022), but he’s also been a driving force in shaping what the running back room has looked like with this team in the past. As a position coach and offensive coordinator, he’s been able to get the absolute most out of guys like Charcandrick West, Spencer Ware, Damien Williams, and Jerick McKinnon. His expertise at running back is likely to come back into play in the 2026 NFL Draft and as the team approaches the 2026 free agency period.
Eric Bieniemy used to play a big role in the Chiefs’ running back evaluations in the NFL Draft
Even after Bieniemy was promoted from RBs coach to the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator in 2018, he still very much stuck to his roots. He was involved in evaluating the running back position at the NFL Scouting Combine. Where most NFL coordinators stuck to formal interviews, Bieniemy even conducted some informal interviews, which are typically conducted with position coaches, area scouts, or other front-office staff members.
Some pending free agents that I know the Chiefs spoke with in the pre-draft process during Bieniemy’s previous tenure with the team include Dallas Cowboys RB Miles Sanders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB Rachaad White, Cleveland Browns RB Jerome Ford, Pittsburgh Steelers RB Kenneth Gainwell, and Atlanta Falcons RB Tyler Allgeier. That’s not to say the Chiefs won’t stray from that group to go after some top guys like New York Jets RB Breece Hall or Seattle Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III, but they can certainly lean on prior evaluations and relationships formed during their draft years to sway players to come to Kansas City.
It’s also reasonable to expect that Bieniemy could resume this type of role as an evaluator for the 2026 NFL Draft class, which isn’t exactly viewed as a strong class at the running back position. Outside of the top guy in Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love, there’s little consensus on who the next best players at the position will be.
Could Eric Bieniemy bring any of his former running backs to Kansas City?
The most notable of Bieniemy’s former pupils set to become a free agent is San Francisco 49ers RB Brian Robinson Jr., who was traded away by Washington at the NFL trade deadline. With Bieniemy as his offensive coordinator in 2023, Robinson Jr. recorded his best season in the league with 214 touches for 1,100 scrimmage yards and nine touchdowns. That fact could make the situation mutually beneficial for Robinson Jr. and the Chiefs.
Another name to keep an eye on with the Commanders is RB Chris Rodriguez Jr., who is a restricted free agent. If he’s not tendered a contract, he could be an option for Kansas City.
Travis Homer, who Bieniemy coached in Chicago in 2025, is also a pending free agent. He had one carry for -2 yards this season and a kick return for 29 yards in 10 games played with the Bears, so he’d likely be a low-level depth signing at best if he came to the Chiefs.
While they’re unlikely to be high draft picks, SMU RB T.J. Harden and UCLA RB Jalen Berger are names to keep on the radar for the 2026 NFL Draft. Harden and Berger both played for Bieniemy at UCLA in 2023. Harden is the likelier candidate to latch on with a pro team after posting 886 scrimmage yards and 10 touchdowns on 190 touches in 2025 with the Mustangs. There’s already a bit of an SMU offensive pipeline to Kansas City with WR Rashee Rice and RB Brashard Smith on the 2026 roster.
Kansas City Chiefs News
Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach may lose his right-hand man for the second consecutive offseason
First he lost Mike Borgonzi to the Tennessee Titans, and now he could lose Mike Bradway to the Atlanta Falcons.
