Stylistically, Isiah Pacheco is an almost perfect football player.
Very few running backs in today’s NFL offer his particular blend of reckless brutality and breathtaking evasion.
If you don’t like watching this gentleman run the ball, then the game itself is probably not for you:
Last year, Pacheco averaged 84.2 yards from scrimmage per week and 5.0 yards per touch while reaching the end zone nine times in 14 games. He also completed 44 passes on 49 targets, demonstrating a skill we rarely saw in his rookie season.
When the playoffs arrived, Pacheco reminded us that he was essentially built in a laboratory for January football. In Kansas City’s four-game Super Bowl run, he threw for at least 82 total yards per week, making three home visits and catching a dozen balls on as many targets. Trying to face Pacheco under any circumstances sounds like a no-fun experience, but it’s just an absolute nightmare in sub-zero conditions:
To date, the only move Kansas City has made at running back this offseason is the re-signing of Clyde Edwards-Helaire, so it seems pretty clear that Pacheco is firmly established as the team’s primary running back. He had 20 or more touches in seven of his last nine games last year, including the postseason. The Chiefs are not looking to add anyone who could emerge as a serious challenger to Pacheco’s workload, because everyone who fits that description has landed elsewhere.
Basically, we’re talking about a dynamic 25-year-old returning to the elite offense – a player the internet loved from the start – and yet, for some reason, the cost of the 2024 project is shockingly reasonable. It’s wild. He is a screaming value. Pacheco is leaving the board in the 40s in the first best ball leaguesan ADP he will crush.
It’s not like this is a running back who is a pure product of team context, for the record. Eye tests and advanced statistics agree: Pacheco is great. He averaged 3.04 yards after contact per attempt last season, forced 37 missed tackles (as many as James Cook, more than Saquon Barkley) and 11 of his rushing attempts went for 15 or more yards. He also caught 90.5% of his targets in two NFL seasons, so again, we’re not dealing with Shonn Greene here.
Pacheco is approved for use on any down, in any situation.
If you think KC remains a top tier team with a top tier offense and no of the opinion that the CEH will be an equal partner in a defense committee, then you should be outraged at the disrespect towards Pacheco in top ball circles at the moment.
To me, he’s a first-round fantasy talent available at a third- or fourth-round price.
This is the type of player who can legitimately win leagues for his managers. None of us should be surprised if he managed 1,500 total yards and 15 scores. Pacheco is simply a great defender in an ideal situation – and scandalously undervalued.
