It’s without question that second-year running back Isiah Pacheco was a draft-day steal from two years ago, coming out of the seventh round after spending his college career at Rutgers. However, the 24-year-old underwent shoulder surgery over the offseason, and since then, the Chiefs’ coaching staff has slowly eased him back into the lineup.
That process continued on Sunday when Kansas City ran the ball with Pacheco just twelve times against the Jaguars. To nobody’s surprise, Pacheco was electric with each carry and finished with 70 yards rushing and averaged 5.8 yards per rushing attempt.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes noticed Pacheco’s impact on the field against the Jags’ defense and praised him after the game.
“I think he ran the ball well [Sunday],” Mahomes said. “Whenever I found him there, he punched it through. He made a lot of big runs there at the end, just tough yards. That’s stuff that you need in this offense. As we continue to develop as an offense, we’ll continue to get the run game more, and it will open up the rest of the offense.”
Last week, Pacheco received 31 snaps against the Detroit Lions but only ran the ball eight times. On Sunday, he got 34 snaps and ran 12 times, so it appears his workload will gradually increase as the season goes on. Once he’s back to full strength, the Chiefs’ offense won’t be so one-dimensional, which should relieve the pressure that’s currently been on Kansas City’s receiving core over these last two games.
