The Kansas City Chiefs are set to kick off training camp in less than a month, and with the annual trek to St. Joseph nearly here, we're going to spend the next several weeks examining every position group on the roster heading into camp.

We began with the quarterbacks, and we'll continue at running back, where the Chiefs currently employ six players.

Let's take a look at each, beginning with this year's marquee free agent signing – tailback Ken Walker – followed by the Chiefs' other two veteran running backs, then the three rookies.

Ken Walker

The reigning Super Bowl MVP, Walker joined the Chiefs as a free agent addition back in early March.

A broken tackle machine, Walker forced 61 missed tackles in 2025, ranking fifth among all running backs, while racking up 664 yards after contact. Over the past three seasons, Walker has ranked either first (in 2024) or second (in 2023 and 2025) in missed tackles forced-per-carry.

Understandably, as he demonstrated in Super Bowl LX, that prowess to shed tackles has led to a bunch of explosive plays. In fact, Walker broke off 33 runs of double-digit yardage in 2025, which ranked sixth in the NFL behind only De'Von Achane (40), James Cook (39), Derrick Henry (36), Bijan Robinson (36) and Jonathan Taylor (36). His explosive run rate of 14.9%, meanwhile, ranked third among all running backs.

Digging a bit deeper, 10 of those 33 runs amassed at least 20 yards on the ground, which ranked third in the league. For context, as a team, the Chiefs recorded just three such runs all of last season.

It's all to say that Walker is among the most explosive running backs in football, and after tallying the most rushing yards in a Super Bowl by any player in 28 years, he now calls Kansas City home.

Emari Demercado

A free agent addition back in March, Demercado was an electric playmaker for the Cardinals during his three years in the desert, averaging 6.5 yards-per-carry across 126 career attempts.

Additionally, Demercado ripped off 20 runs of double-digit yardage over his three years in Arizona, doing so on 15.9% of his carries. Demercado doesn't have the carries to qualify on the leaderboard in that category, but if he did, he would top De'Von Achane (15.7%) for the highest "big play" rushing percentage among running backs in the NFL during that span.

He figures to add yet another explosive element to a Chiefs' backfield that lacked in that area a year ago.

Brashard Smith

Now entering his second year with the Chiefs after entering the NFL as a seventh-round draft pick, Smith – a former wide receiver who only made the switch to running back during his final year in college – showed flashes throughout his rookie campaign. Notably, Smith tallied 56 yards on 12 carries in Week 18 vs. Las Vegas, averaging 4.7 yards-per-carry.

He also earned some touches on special teams throughout the year, which included nine returns (3 kicks, 6 punts) over the final two weeks of the season.

Prior to joining the Chiefs, Smith was a dynamic playmaker for SMU in 2024, rushing for 1,332 yards and 14 touchdowns while averaging 5.67 yards-per-carry. He also tallied 39 catches for 327 yards and four scores, and when combined with his kick return yardage, Smith's 1,977 all-purpose yards ranked fourth in the FBS. Only Ashton Jeanty, Cam Skattebo and Omarion Hampton recorded more.

He was one of just eight players in the FBS to average more than 140 all-purpose yards-per-game in 2024, and he was the only player in the FBS last year to record at least 1,300 rushing yards, 300 receiving yards and 300 kick-return yards.

A full year in the NFL now under his belt, Smith will have an opportunity to take on a larger role in 2026.

Emmett Johnson

The No. 161 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Johnson was among the most productive players in all of college football last year, tallying a Big 10-leading 1,451 rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns. He was also one of just four FBS running backs to average at least 120 rushing yards-per-game in 2025.

Johnson was more than just a runner for Nebraska, too, recording 46 catches – the second-most among all FBS running backs – for 370 yards and three touchdowns.

Here's more on Johnson's pass-catching ability from The Athletic's Dane Brugler:

"He's a savvy pass-catcher with crisp route breaks that allow him to win against linebackers 1-on-1 (a ton of flare routes on his tape)."

It all helped Johnson become the only player in the FBS to average more than 150 scrimmage yards-per-game, and now in Kansas City, he'll have an opportunity to bring that versatile skillset to Head Coach Andy Reid's offense.

Jaydn Ott

An undrafted free agent signee, Ott is reunited with his former Running Back Coach in DeMarco Murray, who took over that role in Kansas City back in February after previously coaching at Oklahoma.

The 5-foot-11, 198-pound Ott will now have an expanded opportunity to learn from Murray after spending just one season with the Sooners in which he battled injuries throughout the campaign. Prior to his time in Norman, however, Ott rushed for 2,587 yards and 24 touchdowns in three seasons at the University of California, earning All-America honors in 2022 and 2023.

He's also an alum of Bruce Feldman's annual "Freaks List," which featured the following analysis:

"The 5-11, 208-pounder squatted 485 pounds, bench pressed 370 and power cleaned 315. His max velocity was 21.6 mph and his max acceleration registered at 12.1 mph — his ability in one second to see how fast he can sprint from a stop. The strength staff measured his peak propulsion power at 7,792 watts, and his propulsion force was more than three times (3.01) his body weight."

Ott has special teams value as a return man, too, as he averaged nearly 22 yards-per-return (including a 100-yard touchdown in 2023) while handling kickoff duties.

E.J. Smith

An undrafted free agent signee and the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, the 6-foot-tall, 208-pound E.J. spent each of the last two seasons at Texas A&M, where he rushed for 412 yards and four touchdowns on 98 carries in 24 games.

Prior to joining the Aggies, Smith rushed for 557 yards and five touchdowns across 109 carries in 24 games at Stanford.

The Bottom Line

The Chiefs featured four running backs on the roster ahead of Week 1 last year in Kareem Hunt, Elijah Mitchell, Isiah Pacheco and Brashard Smith. Remarkably, only Smith remains from that quartet.

Instead, Kansas City's backfield – in addition to Smith – figures to include Ken Walker, Emari Demercado and Emmett Johnson. As for the other two running backs currently on the roster – Jaydn Ott and E.J. Smith – there is precedent for the Chiefs keeping as many five running backs, as was the case in 2022, but the fifth tailback in that instance – Michael Burton – was in actuality a fullback.

Whether the Chiefs tinker with either player at fullback or elect to keep five "true" running backs remains to be seen, but even if the running back room appears set for Week 1, the possibility of either Ott or Smith – at the least – sticking around on the practice squad is worth monitoring. Back in 2021, for example, tailback Derrick Gore began the season on the practice squad before appearing in 11 games (and rushing for 256 yards).

The potential of those two players – not to mention the expected improvement from the Chiefs' new-look backfield – will start to take shape once the padded practices begin early in camp.