The Rise of Kareem Hunt

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Brian Stuart, Writer

In the first two weeks of the NFL season, the rookie running back for the Kansas City Chiefs, Kareem Hunt, already has the most total yards of any running back in the league. Hunt established himself as a superstar after his week one performance against the defending Super Bowl Champion, the New England Patriots. The Chiefs drafted Hunt with the 86th overall pick  in the third round. Kansas City traded up to the 86th pick, dealing their third, fourth, and seventh round picks to Minnesota. Hunt came into training camp as the third string running back, and after a strong camp, he was elected as the backup running back to last year’s starter, Spencer Ware. Ware, however went down with a season ending knee injury in the team’s third preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks, leading to Hunt taking his spot.

Hunt began his career with a start in New England against the Patriots. Hunt quickly made his name known, scoring a touchdown in the second quarter, lowering the Patriots lead to three going into halftime. Hunt would then breakout during the fourth quarter, scoring two more touchdowns, including a 78 yard rushing touchdown to put the Patriots away. Hunt led the Chiefs to an upset win in New England, totaling 246 yards and three touchdowns. Hunt immediately became a star, trending across all social media platforms. Despite having a very impressive week one, with this only being his first career game, people still weren’t yet convinced that Hunt was an elite running back.

Hunt went into week two as the most talked about player in football, and established  himself as a star with another stellar performance. Hunt did struggle in the first half, but in the second half, he recorded two touchdowns, including a 53 yard run, and then a three yard run to put the Eagles away. Hunt totaled yet another 100 yard game, and through two weeks, he already had an astounding five touchdowns.

As week three approached, Hunt had put up the best numbers in the league, and again, he put up staggering numbers in week three against Philadelphia. Hunt totaled 172 rushing yards and a 69 yard touchdown, adding to his already shocking numbers. Hunt has now totaled 401 rushing yards and four touchdowns, along with 137 receiving yards and two touchdowns in only his first three career games.

Hunt is beginning to look like the steal of the 2017 draft, a third round pick who is putting up record setting numbers to what looks to be the start of a great NFL running back. Through three weeks he leads the NFL in totals yards, rushing yards, and total touchdowns. It looks as if the Chiefs have a franchise cornerstone in new breakout star Kareem Hunt.