Year in and year out, the Kansas City Chiefs have one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. The combination of head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes has proven to be a very difficult one for opponents to slow down.
While they haven’t been as high-flying yet this season, this year’s offense is one of the most dangerous the Chiefs have had in recent seasons. That is because the ground game has gotten going with Isiah Pacheco leading the way.
The 2022 seventh-round pick began taking over the backfield last season and entered 2023 as the leader of the pack when it came to early down work. He has paced the team with 325 yards to this point on 71 carries with three touchdowns.
It is a good thing that he has been playing so well because the other running backs on the team, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon, haven’t been very efficient. They have combined for 114 yards on 35 carries, averaging an inefficient 3.3 yards per carry.
As a result of that, we have seen the Chiefs have begun leaning on Pacheco more and more as the unquestioned lead back. In recent seasons, Kansas City has used two lead backs, but that role has been evolving over the last two weeks.
Pacheco has been on the field for more than half of the team’s offensive snaps in the last two games against the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings. That is something he accomplished only once in the first three weeks of the season.
As a result of that change, it has led to fewer opportunities for Edwards-Helaire and McKinnon, as Pacheco even got the goal line work in Week 5. While his performance wasn’t great against the Vikings, the workload and opportunity are what matters most to most fans, especially those who play Fantasy Football.
If this is the workload distribution that Reid continues to use, Pacheco is a weekly, locked-in starter. This Chiefs offense is going to score a lot of points and be nursing a lot of leads, which should lead to plenty of work for Pacheco moving forward.
That amount of work, coupled with a golden matchup against the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football, could lead to Pacheco putting up RB1 numbers in Fantasy Football in Week 6. If there is a chance for you to acquire him from another manager in your league, this could be the last time you’ll be able to buy low.
