KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs' fullback Anthony Sherman understands that when he's on the field with Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and Kareem Hunt, quarterback Patrick Mahomes has more alluring offensive options from which to choose.
“When you've got a lot of weapons out there with me, I'm the lesser of the evils,” Sherman said.
But that hasn't stopped player dubbed "The Sausage" from posting the best games of his career during the two starts of the Mahomes era. During the first 107 games of his eight-year career, Sherman caught 52 passes for 408 yards, rushed six times for 14 and scored two touchdowns.
Then came games 108 and 109, comprising starts by Mahomes in Week 17 of last season and Sunday's opening win at the Los Angeles Chargers. Sherman exploded with four catches for 57 yards, 14 rushes for 40 more yards and two touchdowns.
So what explains the offensive eruption?
“We have a chemisty,” Sherman said. “Our lockers are next to each other. He doesn't really care who's out there, if you're open he's going to find you and throw you the ball.”
Part of the explosion results from circumstance. Injuries decimated the Chiefs' running back stable in last year's season finale at Denver, and Sherman stepped in as the featured back.
But his 36-yard touchdown catch from Mahomes in Week 1 marked his career best, and made it the second-straight career-game for Sherman.
“They doubled (Kelce) and the safety sat on Trav and I ended up over the top of the linebacker, and he made a perfect throw. I just ran under it and kept going.”
Mahomes said he has a lot of trust in Sherman as a receiver out of the backfield.
“He doesn’t get a lot of targets, he’s the fullback so he doesn’t get a lot of passing plays,” Mahomes said. “But he has really good hands. I just put it out there and had made that play all week and he made it in the game.”
Sherman's teammates rushed into the end zone to celebrate with their fullback.
“Some of these guys weren't even on the field, they come running in and they were all excited,” Sherman said. “It was a good feeling to know that your teammates are just as excited as you are.
Sherman's production over the last two games with Mahomes would project to a 456 yards receiving and 320 yards rushing over a full season. But he's not ready to accept the mantle as Mahomes' favorite target quite yet.
“I don't know about that, but that would be nice,” Sherman said with a smile.
