Emmett Johnson — Week 2: Four Touches, Thirty-Five Yards
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Johnson had two carries for 15 yards and caught both targets for 20, with three of the four touches on consecutive snaps of a third-quarter field-goal drive: runs of eight and seven and a 12-yard catch. He also returned a kickoff 34 yards. Kenneth Walker had 24 of Kansas City's 27 designed runs, in a 33–30 overtime win over the Colts.
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24 to 20, Chiefs, four-oh-one left in the third quarter, first and 10 at the Kansas City 41. Emmett Johnson went up the middle for eight. On the next snap, second and two, he went up the middle again for seven and the first down. On the snap after that, Patrick Mahomes threw short right to him for 12 more, to the Indianapolis 32. Three consecutive snaps, 27 yards, two first downs, and +1.6 expected points added between them — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position. The drive ended in Harrison Butker's 28-yard field goal and a 27 to 20 lead.
The line: two carries, 15 yards, one first down, both carries successful; two targets, two catches, 20 yards, one first down, +0.8 expected points on the targets. The fourth touch was an eight-yard catch on first and 10 from the Kansas City 20 with 59 seconds left in the half, short left, pushed out at the 28, on the first snap after Jonathan Taylor's touchdown. Both targets were thrown behind the line of scrimmage, and 24 yards came after the catch. Outside the stat line he returned a kickoff 34 yards from the one to the Kansas City 35 early in the second quarter, with an illegal formation penalty on the Chiefs moving it back five, and Rashee Rice caught a 30-yard pass on the next snap. He is also credited with the tackle on a Colts kickoff return in the first quarter.
The split: Kenneth Walker 24 designed runs, Johnson two, and defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga one on fourth and one. No other running back carried the ball. Walker also had 10 targets to Johnson's two. Johnson had no touch from scrimmage in the fourth quarter or in overtime, when Walker carried seven times.
Back in June the preview called Johnson a late-round claim on a role that did not exist yet, behind Walker and Kareem Hunt, and named two things to watch: passing-down work, and return-game usage as the quiet path to a roster spot. Week 1 was eight carries for 24 yards, four of them on the drive that ran out the clock, and two catches for 44. Sunday night was a one-score game for five quarters, and the carries fell from eight to two while Walker's went from 23 to 24. That is the honest size of the job when the game is close. The part that has held is the hands: four targets, four catches, 64 yards in two games, and a kickoff return on the sheet. Through two weeks he is the only running back other than Walker to carry the ball. The Chiefs are at the Dolphins on Sunday the 20-seventh.
_Data via nflverse._
When Emmett Johnson's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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