On his very first touch in the NFL, Kansas City Chiefs rookie running back Kareem Hunt did something he never once did in four seasons at Toledo. He lost a fumble.
This led to immediate questions (and overreactions) about whether the loss of Spencer Ware to a season-ending knee surgery would be the downfall of the Chiefs. A highly-touted rookie losing a fumble on his first NFL touch? That most definitely couldn't be a good sign.
From there on out, Hunt made the defending champion New England Patriots look absolutely foolish. He put up 57 yards on his next eight touches, including a three-year touchdown catch from Alex Smith to close out the first half.
But that wasn't anywhere near the level of play we saw from Hunt in the second half of the game. After gaining 10 yards on his only rush in the next two possessions, Hunt went off big time. Hunt ultimately went for 151 total yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone en route to helming Kansas Ciy pull off the 42-27 upset victory in New England.
When all was said and done, the numbers were awe-inspiring. Hunt gained 148 yards and a touchdown on 17 rush attempts for an average of 8.7 yards per attempt. He also added five caches on 98 yards with two touchdowns. Doing the math, this means the rookie third-round pick gained 246 total yards on 22 touches for an average of a whopping 11.2 yards per touch.
In no way does this mean Hunt will be able to perform at anywhere near this level moving forward. Week 1 could have been somewhere in between a mirage and what we expect to see from the talented youngster moving forward on the season.
New England struggled pretty much throughout the entire game penetrating the Chiefs' offensive backfield. It lost Dont'a Hightower to injury immediately before Hunt started going off. This is by now well known.
But it would also be foolish to discount what Hunt did as an exception to the rule. Remember, when Ware went down to injury, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid concluded more than once that Hunt would see a near three-down role. That's pretty much what happened on Thursday. We also made sure to recommended Hunt as a potential RB2 option with RB1 uptisde in late-summer fantasy drafts once the Ware injury became official.
If you fostered Hunt and sat him Week 1 (raises hand), shame on you. But there will definitely be opportunities to ride his hot hand moving forward on the season. That continues in Week 2 against a Philadelphia Eagles team that yielded the ninth-fewest fantasy points to running backs last season. It will most definitely be a good test for the young ball-carrier.