Another late-round RB steal for the Chiefs?

Kansas City Chiefs, Brashard Smith | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

It wasn’t long ago that the Kansas City Chiefs stole Isiah Pacheco out of Rutgers in the 7th round of the NFL Draft. They might have another highway robbery on their hands in 2025.

The Chiefs went with big men at the top of their 2025 NFL Draft class, and justifably so. The team had a gaping hole at left tackle entering the draft, and they’ve been in need of some reshuffling on the defensive line and off the edge.

But even with an emphasis on the trenches early on in the draft, you had to know that Chiefs GM Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid were going to get a little greedy at the offensive skill positions, and that’s exactly what we saw from them on Day 3. The Chiefs used a fourth-round pick on Jalen Royals, a player out of Utah State who was really well-liked by many in the NFL Draft community, and their last pick of the entire draft really had everyone rolling their eyes.

Brashard Smith has a chance to be a big-time draft steal for Chiefs in 2025

The Chiefs used their final pick in the 2025 NFL Draft — a seventh-round pick — on SMU running back Brashard Smith. Smith was expected to go much higher than the seventh round, even in a draft class that was loaded at the running back position.

Instead of other running back-needy teams just taking the guy off the board, they gave the Chiefs an absolute gift of a pick on Day 3.

Smith was a transfer to SMU from Miami, where he played the wide receiver position. His background as a receiver makes him even more fascinating, because he picked up the running back thing like it was no big deal at SMU. He finished the 2024 season at SMU ranked fourth in all of FBS with 1,977 yards from scrimmage, including over 1,300 yards rushing. He also added 22.9 yards per return on 14 kickoff returns.

And would you believe me if I told you he’s already turning heads at Chiefs training camp? Of course he is.

Brashard Smith out of the backfield…useful. #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/ZVFRBIUWbZ

— Matt Foster (@MattFosterTV) July 29, 2025

It feels like it was only yesterday the same type of stuff was coming out of Chiefs camp regarding Isiah Pacheco. While Smith is a different type of player stylistically, he can have a similarly huge impact on the Kansas City offense, which would love to have a younger stable of backs to turn to.

The Chiefs have been relying heavily on older, less explosive guys, and having that 4.39 speed from Smith on the field would be a nice change of pace. It looks like he’s shaping up to be a steal for Kansas City, which is going to drive everyone else crazy in the NFL.