KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kareem Hunt was on his couch in Cleveland. Isiah Pacheco was in an operating room after fracturing his fibula. The Chiefs’ running-back room is looking forward to a much better September than last year.

“Look, we played last year without Isiah,” general manager Brett Veach said Thursday. “He’s a guy that we think is gonna have a big gear. He’s a dynamic player.

“And Kareem came back last year and did a great job for us but, in retrospect, he came back for us in a pinch, and I don’t think he had any foundation whatsoever.”

No offseason last year

Hunt was a free agent after the Browns chose not to sign him. As a result, he sat out an offseason program and training camp for the first time in his career. Veach said he appreciated Hunt’s contributions but saw a noticeable toll his body took at the end of the season, something the veteran should avoid this year after re-signing with the Chiefs in March.

And along with a healthy and rejuvenated Pacheco, the Chiefs are looking forward to deploying their 1-2 punch on the NFL. It’s a unique combination. Pacheco is one of the most productive seventh-round draft choices in recent league history, while Hunt won the NFL rushing title in another lifetime – his 2017 rookie campaign in Kansas City.

“I think that’s a duo that we’re really comfortable in,” Veach added. “We think that Kareem coming back after a year of being here, and now and having a full offseason, has a good foundation now, and I think he’s looked better at camp.

“Also, ever since Isiah has been inserted in the lineup, he’s always been a very productive player and a high-end, high-end running back. You always have to account for injuries, but I think barring injuries, we’re really happy with those two guys. And, those guys have both played in the system for a while.”

The rookie from SMU

And speaking of seventh-round running backs, the Chiefs drafted another one in April. Speedy Brashard Smith is a former wide receiver who will not only line up all over Kansas City’s offensive formation, he’ll also return kicks.

While the Chiefs wanted to further develop Smith’s return capability in the preseason, they were hampered by his dislocated index finger, an injury he sustained just days before the Aug. 9 preseason opener at Arizona. That injury prevented them from using him as much as they wanted on returns, and Kansas City enters the season nervous in that area. Veach said that’s one reason they kept wide receiver and return specialist Nikko Remigio.

Veach said he never wants to lose a game that comes down to the fourth quarter based on a muffed return, something Remigio never does. The team’s fourth running back is free agent Elijah Mitchell, who may not be active in Week 1.

But as Smith gets more comfortable with that part of his game, the Chiefs know he at least adds a different dynamic to their offensive backfield.

“He has a dynamic and explosive quality,” Veach said. “And so, I think we have, between those three guys, I think we have some playmaking ability.”