RADIO
Brashard Smith is a fantasy football sleeper and value in 2025 fantasy football rookie drafts. Read the fantasy football outlook for the new Chiefs running back.
DRAFT PICK: 7th Round (#228 Overall Pick)
TEAM: Kansas City Chiefs
ROOKIE DRAFT ANALYSIS: Smith is already the best pass-catching back on his team. He is also a highly explosive athlete -- he ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the 2025 NFL Combine, and his tape shows many examples of great speed, acceleration, and burst. Besides being drafted with very high draft capital (and thus not being a sleeper anymore), the best thing a player can do to put up big numbers and earn more playing time is to make big plays. Smith will likely excel at that from early in his career.
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The reigning wisdom is that RB Isiah Pacheco is clearly the lead workhorse of this backfield. Then again, the speed with which huge roles for late-round running backs fade can be pretty startling. After Pacheco's leg injury last season, his return was pretty disappointing, and he never took over his previously huge role.
Additionally, he's not a high-level pass-catcher. Neither is Kareem Hunt (anymore), nor Elijah Mitchell, the other two RBs in the backfield. Smith is easily at least the second-most talented back on the Chiefs roster right now, and it's possible he could be the clear RB1B by the middle of the year.
Smith is remarkably nimble in the open field. I imagine Kansas City head coach Andy Reid is already drawing up plays for him. The Chiefs have lacked a true open-field threat for a few seasons now. Pacheco is a plodder with impressive speed, but isn't particularly elusive, and his method for gaining extra yards is to bash his head into defenders.
Every Brashard Smith breakaway run (15+yards) from 2024 #NFLDraft2025 pic.twitter.com/UAjbx36rBX
— Ray G (@RayGQue) March 21, 2025
Smith is a weapon with the ball in his hands and is the best receiving back in this year's loaded 2025 NFL Draft class. He thus has very intriguing upside in PPR leagues. He got an incredible landing spot in a backfield full of questions for a player drafted so late.
Leaning into backfields with lots of uncertainty on offenses that are proven to be good is always a good idea. You should do so with Smith, who's been written off by most of the fantasy community for his lack of size and his low draft capital. This is despite the fact that he's a great back who can pass-protect well.
- John Johnson
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