Isiah Pacheco is a popular name now in fantasy football circles with the Kansas City Chiefs running back primed to build on his impressive rookie season. A year ago, not many knew about the seventh-round pick out of Rutgers.
His rookie season was a strong one; Pacheco ran for 830 yards and five touchdowns on 170 carries and he won the starting running back job by midseason. Pacheco, a former All-Big Ten selection out of Rutgers,also was strong on kickoff returns.
In the Super Bowl, Pacheco had a second-quarter touchdown for the Chiefs.
This week, NFL Network analyst Michael F. Florio discussed the outlook for Pacheco in terms of his fantasy football value. The Florio segment was titled ‘Sophomore slump or surge: RB Isiah Pacheco?’
“I’m gonna say slump here might remember last season, people who watch the show thought I hated Isiah Pacheco, I don’t I just don’t think he’s in a very fantasy-friendly role. He gets used between the 20s a lot, but when they get in the red zone and near the goal line, they tend to bring in their past catching receivers,” Florio said on the NFL Network.
“Last year, Chiefs running backs had 12 receiving touchdowns. That’s almost the number of targets that Pacheco had all season long. He also was below average on runs that went for 10 or more yards. So I think he’s more of a safe floor play not really a high upside kind of running back – one that I will let someone else take in the middle round.”
During training camp, Pacheco created some buzz about an expanded role in the Chiefs offense, including as a pass-catching option out of the backfield.
“I’m just not satisfied. I find that there is more to be done out there, day-by-day. That’s how I get better,” Pacheco told reporters this week.
“Whatever is next for me work on work on tomorrow, I’ll figure that out soon as we get in this meeting, to pinpoint that, to work on to get better tomorrow.”
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