Until this present era of sustained success for the Kansas City Chiefs, most fans (at least those who’ve been around for some time) would have lifted up the heralded ground games of rosters past as the franchise’s best years.
For so many in Chiefs Kingdom, visions of incredible offensive fronts creating holes for record-setting quarterbacks arise as reminders of the rare moments of hope amid some abysmal years. The Chiefs don’t have the best track record of drafting or even signing quarterbacks, but at least the backfield was there to salvage some fan excitement through the years.
That means a list of the best running backs in Chiefs history is fairly robust and features some memorable players who put up some incredible stats—whether long-term production or single-season bursts that still make you shake your head.
As we put the list together of the top running backs in Chiefs history, the truth is that it was tough to leave some players off the list. In fact, there’s even one in the Ring of Honor, Mike Garrett, who didn’t make it onto our list here. It’s not that Garrett (and others close to him) aren’t worth mentioning, but again, the depth of quality backs in Chiefs history is going to knock someone out of the running.
It should also be noted that some players with exciting short-term returns didn’t make it here, but they’re also worth mentioning: Kareem Hunt, Barry Word, and current starter Isiah Pacheco. There’s simply too many accomplished backs over much longer periods of time who warranted mention here.
Productivity and longevity are the major concerns here in our top 10 with just a couple of exceptions, but those cases are likely so obvious to Chiefs Kingdom that they can already guess who the exceptions might be.
10. Curtis McClinton
We’ll begin our list by dialing back the clock to the earliest years of the franchise and a player who anchored the ground game for the first decade of its existence.
Curtis McClinton was a regional prospect from Oklahoma who starred at Kansas before being drafted by the Dallas Texans in 1962. The former track star was a three-time hurdles champ in the Big 12, and that athleticism and speed made him an instant weapon at the professional level.
McClinton earned the ROY award in his first season and went on to prove himself as an exciting, well-rounded weapon out of the backfield for the Chiefs with 3,124 rushing yards and another 1,945 receiving yards from ’62-69. He also caught a touchdown in Super Bowl I.
With a combined 32 touchdowns, McClinton was a threat to score when given the ball either on the ground or through the air—a man whose skill set would preview how the game would change in years to come.
9. Tony Richardson
Given that we’re not separating fullbacks from halfbacks in our ground-game rankings here, we simply must make space for the greatest fullback to ever play for the Chiefs: Tony Richardson.
The truth is that the players at or near the top of this very list owe much of their success to the pavers up front. To the tremendous blocking of the Chiefs’ offensive line and Richardson himself as the longtime fullback who was not only plenty productive in his own right but also helped clear the path for the eye-popping stats of some of the franchise’s best backs ever.
After spending his first season on the practice squad of the Dallas Cowboys in 1994, Richardson joined the Chiefs in ’95 and remained there for the next 11 seasons—a stretch of 163 games with the team. In that span, he rushed for 1,576 yards and added another 1,298 receiving yards himself with 24 total scores. However, his work preparing the way for the likes of Marcus Allen, Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson and others defined his toughness.
Even after such a long stint with the Chiefs, Richardson played another half-decade—until the age of 40—with the Vikings and Jets. The three-time Pro Bowler was one of the toughest players to ever take the field for the Chiefs.
8. Ed Podolak
If you want a great example of how Ed Podolak was an instant success at nearly anything on the gridiron, all you need to know is his story of becoming a running back in the first place.
Podolak began his collegiate career at the University of Iowa by winning the starting QB role as a sophomore. It’s a position he played for the next 2.5 seasons before, in the midst of his senior year, switching to halfback on a full-time basis after the Hawkeyes’ starter suffered an injury. Two games later, he had set a new Big Ten single-game rushing record with 286 yards.
The Chiefs drafted Podolak as a tailback in the second round of the 1969 draft (he was also drafted as a QB into the CFL) to partner with Mike Garrett. It took one season for the Chiefs to decide to open things up for Podolak and ship Garrett to the Chargers. Hank Stram loved Podolak’s ability to do all things well and leaned on him as a rusher, receiver, and returner.
Podolak helped the Chiefs win their first championship, and even today, after nearly 50 years away from the field, he remains in the top five rushers in Chiefs history.
7. Joe Delaney
By now, the courage and sacrifice of Joe Delaney is one of the most oft-told stories in Chiefs Kingdom—and for good reason. Even the franchise itself has gone to great lengths to make sure his name and story are not forgotten.
It should also be remembered, however, that Delaney was also an exemplary football player. While it’s not nearly as important as the person he was, it should also not be lost on the audience that Delaney’s career began with a cannonball shot of productivity—with an AFC Rookie of the Year Award and Pro Bowl nod after putting up a team-record total of 1,121 rushing yards.
Delaney’s heroic attempt to save three children near his home in Monroe, Louisiana ended tragically, but the light that shines from his bright example is still seen clearly in and through Chiefs Kingdom decades later.
6. Abner Haynes
Say hello to the first superstar in franchise history.
Abner Haynes was a dynamic running back from what is now known as North Texas and was a draft pick in 1960 for both the Dallas Texans in the AFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL. He chose the Texans and became an immediate sensation by leading the entire league in rushing yards during his first season with 875. He also led the AFL in touchdowns with nine. That earned him Player of the Year honors in his first season.
Haynes remained a thrilling specimen to watch on the field as a rusher, receiver, and returner and led the league in yards from scrimmage with 1,622 in his third season, He was the Texans/Chiefs’ leading rusher in four of their first five years of existence.
Haynes still ranks No. 6 overall on the Chiefs all-time rushing list with 3,814 yards and had his number retired (No. 28) by the team (and North Texas) after his retirement.
5. Marcus Allen
Other than the move to get Patrick Mahomes and the resulting success, no other point in Chiefs Kingdom brought about as much excitement in the last five decades as the moment when the team was able to secure the veteran acquisitions of quarterback Joe Montana and running back Marcus Allen.
While Montana and Allen were both on the downward sides of their careers, both were also future Hall of Famers with plenty left in the tank for another gasp or two at a championship run. From 1993 to 1997, Allen anchored the backfield with a true nose for the end zone, and his 44 rushing scores are still third on the team’s all-time list.
Allen made his greatest impact in that first ’93 season with Marty Schottenheimer during a 13-win effort in which he ranked No. 6 in MVP voting. He also added another 268 yards from scrimmage and 3threescores in that postseason run, doing all he could to help the cause.
The Raiders franchise has a stronger claim on Allen, and he will forever be linked with the Chiefs’ division rivals, but there’s a mutual appreciation here that will never go away.
4. Larry Johnson
It’s possible to argue that Larry Johnson deserves to move up a bit further on this list. Then again, most things involving Larry Johnson involved an argument of some kind since the very beginning.
The one thing that no one would ever debate is Johnson’s on-field talent. That much was clear to anyone who watched him discard a defender’s best efforts like litter out of a car window—whether in his early days at Penn State or in his prime with the Chiefs.
It was Johnson’s talents that proved too difficult to ignore for the Chiefs’ front office in the 2003 NFL Draft. Fresh off of his Doak Walker win and incredible 2,000-yard rushing season for the Nittany Lions, the Chiefs submitted his name on their first-round draft card despite having the NFL’s top rusher in Priest Holmes on the roster.
As injuries took their toll on Holmes, Johnson finally earned his chance to start for the Chiefs and put up the sort of monster numbers that set franchise records. The Chiefs ran Johnson into the ground in terms of workload, but the returns were undeniable with a combined 4,292 yards from scrimmage and 40 touchdowns in 2005-06 alone.
That said, Johnson’s tenure began with a debate—as to whether the Chiefs needed a first-round RB—and the drama never ended. Head coach Dick Vermeil despised Johnson’s work ethic (and never liked the pick all along). Johnson also sat out when wanting a new contract later in his career. From there, he complained about playing time when his effectiveness had waned, and he was accused of assault on multiple occasions.
For all his incredible output for a short stretch of Chiefs history, there’s also a mercurial personality that’s hard to separate from his on-field accomplishments. So despite his place at No. 3 on the all-time franchise yards rushing list (6,055) and his second-place status in touchdowns (55), we’ve got LJ at No. 4 overall.
3. Christian Okoye
If there’s a prototypical athlete who embodied the NFL at its most ground-and-pound, Christian Okoye would undoubtedly be the Chiefs’ entry into the mix. The ideal blend of size, strength, and speed, the man known as the Nigerian Nightmare was the sort of physical specimen who struck fear into the hearts of opposing defenders and donned the posters of fans’ bedrooms throughout the Kingdom.
Okoye came to the States from his native Nigeria to attend Azusa Pacific in California on a track scholarship. From there, he picked up the game of football, and in three seasons, he was the Chiefs’ second-round selection in 1987. That’s what happens when you can run a 4.45-second time in the 40-yard dash despite weighing 260 pounds.
Okoye went on to become the team’s all-time leading rusher in just six seasons (4,897 yards) and led the entire NFL in rushing in 1989. The two-time Pro Bowler also set a team record with 14 100-yard games.
Unfortunately, Okoye’s own lateness to the game of football made him a 26-year-old rookie, and knee injuries cut his career short as he turned 30. It’s impossible to tell how good he would have been with proper youth training or, really, any experience at all in his younger days. That said, he was a legend for a handful of years as the sort of unforgettable athlete who comes around once in a generation.
2. Priest Holmes
If you want to know how exciting the Priest Holmes era of the Chiefs was, just know that the legend is the only player to average more than a touchdown for every game he played (76 in 65 games). It’s as if Holmes was some monster created by fantasy football players intended to dominate offensively, and he did just that for his first five seasons with K.C.
What’s interesting about Holmes is how inconspicuous of an acquisition he was for the Chiefs at the time. He had been cast aside after three seasons on the Baltimore Ravens as second fiddle to Jamal Lewis, and the Chiefs got him for a song in 2001. That next season, Holmes led the entire league with1,555 rushing yards and 2,169 yards from scrimmage.
From there, Holmes put up the best three-season stretch by a running back in NFL history with 6,566 yards from scrimmage and 61 total touchdowns. That level of output put him on track for a greater payday and platform, but it was here that such use also led to the injuries that would also cut things short.
The mix of Holmes running behind Willie Roaf, Will Shields, and company made for some of the most exciting offensive stretches in Chiefs history. Holmes remains 21 touchdowns over the next player on the franchise’s all-time list, showing that he was in such rarefied company all along.
1. Jamaal Charles
If you want to know the best way to describe Jamaal Charles’s unparalleled greatness for someone who maybe missed the chance to see him, all you need to do is ask a true fan about his career. They will say something akin to “What might have been?”
Yes, that’s in reference to the Chiefs’ all-time leading rusher.
That’s not the sort of question you ask about a player who sits atop a franchise’s all-time rushing list with 7,260 rushing yards, but the truth is that injuries robbed Charles of so much more production—the sort of statistical output that would have catapulted him into Hall of Fame consideration. Two torn ACLs and further complications in 2011 and 2015 kept him from developing comparable numbers to other legends with greater longevity and health.
As it is, Charles has a real case to be made as a running back who averaged a ridiculous 5.4 yards/carry. Tyreek Hill would merit consideration, but most fans would also argue that Charles was the single most dynamic player with the ball in his hands in Chiefs history. Even among his peers, Charles was a consistent face atop the NFL’s Top 100, landing anywhere inside the top 20.
There’s a reason so many fans focus on the promise over the production. While Charles was great on paper, he was arguably the best when watching him in person. That’s often lost in discussions of a legacy but not here.
Ranking
Player Name
Rushing TDs
1.
Priest Holmes
76
2.
Larry Johnson
55
3.
Marcus Allen
44
4.
Jamaal Charles
43
5.
Christian Okoye
40
6.
Abner Haynes
39
7.
Ed Podolak
34
8.
Mike Garrett
24
9.
Ted McKnight
22
10.
Curtis McClinton
18
