Its back-to-back months with AFC Offensive Player of the Month wins for the Kansas City Chiefs. In November, Patrick Mahomes earned his fifth career honor. This time around, it’s RB Jerick McKinnon taking home the award for December/January, marking his first monthly award in his NFL career.
McKinnon led the entire NFL in the final six weeks of the regular season with nine total touchdowns, including eight receiving and one rushing touchdown. The 30-year-old running back also had over 400 total yards during that span. He recorded a receiving touchdown in each of those last six games, which made him the first running back since 1970 with a touchdown reception in at least five consecutive games.
The nine touchdown receptions by McKinnon in 2022 are tied with Rams RB Marshall Faulk (2001), Vikings RB Chuck Foreman (1975) and Leroy Hoard (1991) for the most by a running back in a single season in the Super Bowl era.
McKinnon is now the sixth Chiefs running back to earn NFL monthly honors during their career, joining Priest Holmes (two-time winner), Kareem Hunt (September 2017), Larry Johnson (two-time winner), Christian Okoye (October 1991) and Barry Word (December 1991). He’s also the first player from his alma mater, Georgia Southern, to ever win an Offensive Player of the Month award, AFC or NFC.