Sporting Life
Buffalo's class act at running back LeSean McCoy
Buffalo's class act at running back LeSean McCoy

NFL pre-season moves: Kansas City Chiefs sign former Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy to boost league-leading offence

By Paul Higham
NFL
Tue September 03, 2019 · 6y ago

The Kansas City Chiefs finished as the top points scorers in the NFL regular season last year, and they're late move for running back LeSean McCoy gives them every chance of repeating that feat this season.

McCoy was let go by the Buffalo Bills but his former Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid moved quickly to take him to Kansas City in a move that could prove to be shrewd one in adding such an experienced and effective runner to the mix.

The Chiefs were a Dee Ford penalty away from beating the New England Patriots and going to the Super Bowl last season, and will be desperate to go one better this year and make the big game.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes will have all eye son him, but he'll need a strong running game and he'll now have McCoy, who is effective both running and receiving, to add to starter Damian Williams and rookie Darwin Thompson.

McCoy had the worst year of his ten years in the NFL with the Bills last season, but there were plenty of mitigating circumstances and Reid, for whom McCoy had four of his six 1,000-yard rushing season, expects the 31-year-old to prove a valuable asset.

"There are not a lot of 31-year-old running backs running around out there,'' Reid said. "But he still has the great feet and the vision.

"He knows what to expect. I've been very honest with him about Damien and how good of a football player he is. I think it's a great situation for both of them and for the team. For where he's at in his career, you're talking about potentially a future Hall of Famer with the numbers and stats he's put together here.

"Here he has an opportunity to come to what potentially is a good football team as we go forward and be a part of that.''

Reid plans to throw McCoy straight into the action for Sunday's opening game of the new NFL season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, backing him to pick up the playbook quickly enough.

"We'll see what he can pick up in a short period of time here, how comfortable he is with it, and then we'll go from there,'' Reid said. "He's a pretty sharp kid so I think we'll be OK. He's been practicing and playing in these pre-season games so the conditioning part is not an issue. It's just becoming familiar with the protections and the run game part."

Reid the reason for choosing Chiefs

McCoy had other offers from around the league, including the LA Chargers who have their star rusher Melvin Gordon holding out and possibly not playing this season, but the presence of Reid made his mind up to move to Arrowhead.

"The best part about it is Andy Reid,'' McCoy said. "I love coach Reid. The biggest thing for me is he's always been honest since day one. As a coach, I've learned so much from him. Now coming here, I'm sure he'll teach me different things.

"I'm an older player, and I want to stretch my career out as long as possible. I want to be productive as well. I think just playing with him, when you watch tape of the offense and how they go up and down the field, small plays to big shots, to utilizing all the open space for his players, when you see that, you fall in love with that."

McCoy also has no fears about being able to get up to speed on the Chiefs' system for Sunday, and is happy enough to be sharing the backfield mix.

"I should be fine," he said. "I'm a smart dude. I have nothing else to do. It will be like homework.

"Those are some pretty good backs. It's for coach Reid to decide. The good thing about that is he's been doing that for a number of years with different guys, who had really good careers. I'm open to working hard and competing.

"The ultimate goal is to win. That's one thing I haven't done yet. I've had good numbers. I've done good things. But I want to win. I need to be with a winning team, and whatever it takes to get that done, we'll do."

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