Chiefs Announce Abrupt RB Move, Sign 2 Reinforcements

The Kansas City Chiefs made the Felix Anudike-Uzomah decision official on the afternoon of August 18, shifting the former first-round draft pick to the season-ending injured reserve, but they also made three other roster moves, including an abrupt running back cut following the second preseason outing.

Their social media team announced the full collection of transactions on X, stating: “We have signed Free Agents DE Owen Carney and LB Xander Mueller. We have placed DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah on Reserve/Injured. [And] we have waived RB Elijah Young.”

It’s not all that surprising, but Young is now the first casualty of the hotly contested RB battle.

Over his two preseason outings, the undrafted rookie carried the football 4 times for a total of 15 yards and 2 first downs. Those performances yielded a combined yards per carry average of 3.75 yards.

Young’s back was always going to be up against the wall entering a camp competition with Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, Elijah Mitchell, a draft pick in Brashard Smith, and a staff favorite in Carson Steele, but he didn’t exactly do himself any favors with two lackluster preseason outings.

In order to contest for a roster spot or even make the practice squad, Young had to stand out this summer. Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that he did not.

Chiefs Add to Pass Rush With 1 Undrafted Prospect & 1 Familiar Journeyman

At this stage of the preseason, anyone signed — outside of a big-name free agent — is unlikely to make the 53-man roster. Having said that, practice squad spots are typically more up for grabs, even if the sample size is small.

The Chiefs’ latest signings will undoubtedly be competing for a role on either the KC practice squad or any practice squad around the league that views their tape.

Carney is a 26-year-old journeyman defensive end who has yet to play in a regular season NFL game. He was with Kansas City last summer, appearing in all three preseason outings, so there is your connection this late in the process.

Before his 2024 preseason with the Chiefs, Carney spent the previous two summers with the Cincinnati Bengals (2023) and Miami Dolphins (2022). He’s been credited with 14 total preseason tackles and 3.5 sacks.

Carney spent five years at Illinois in college, racking up 15.5 sacks, 113 total tackles and 1 forced fumble, so he has some ability as a pass rusher.

Similar to Carney, Mueller is an undrafted rookie linebacker who knows how to get to the quarterback. He had 9.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles over four years at Northwestern, not to mention 6 interceptions and 273 total tackles.

The Chiefs have already lost two pass rushers (Janarius Robinson and Anudike-Uzomah) to season-ending injuries, and keep in mind that 2023 draft pick BJ Thompson is still out indefinitely, too. With all that in mind, allowing two pass-rushing fliers to show what they can do in the preseason finale makes a whole lot of sense.

Chiefs Make Final Decision on Felix Anudike-Uzomah

The Anudike-Uzomah decision is unfortunate because the former first-rounder is approaching his fifth-year option deadline next May. With a season spent on the pine, he’s unlikely to receive that fifth-year option now.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid stressed that Anudike-Uzomah has been working hard all summer, which makes his injury news even tougher to bear.

As we know, though, the game of football sometimes requires a short memory. Anudike-Uzomah will be forgotten for the next six months or so, and then it’ll be on him to make the Chiefs and the KC community remember why he was selected in round one to begin with.