DRBR: Kansas City Chiefs

The problem with Isaiah Pacheco is I think we're a little infatuated with the offense that he's in and not necessarily the player himself. Kind of like with Clyde Edwards-Helaire when he was drafted by Kansas City. Was he a good running back? Yes. But it was the offense that he was going into that caused everybody to go crazy over him.

Now, the hype for Isaiah Pacheco isn't nearly as high or out of control, so maybe those two things don't match up as well. But the basic premise is still the same — people are excited about Isaiah Pacheco because he's a part of the Kansas City Chiefs offense, one that over the last several years has been one of the best in the league.

Except last year, it did take a little bit of a step back, and it just didn’t feel like the Chiefs or Patrick Mahomes that we’ve become accustomed to. Now, moving forward in 2025, it could look a whole lot different — because obviously you’ve got Patrick Mahomes back. Kelce’s coming back for another year. You have Marquise Brown. Rashee Rice may or may not be on or off the field — health, legal trouble, all those different things. But it could be a whole lot better.

Isaiah Pacheco is a good running back. And when you take a look at his DRBR this past season, it doesn’t look great. But he hasn’t really had a whole lot of DRBR success up to this point anyway. The best DRBR scores that Isaiah Pacheco has had so far came from the 2023 season. At that point, in yards after contact, he scored 65. In tackles avoided per attempt, he scored 64. Both of those are solid numbers. They’re good — they’re not great.

And in this offense, I would hope that they would be a little bit better considering the fact we see an increase in the passing game. The weapons are drawing people down the field, and Isaiah Pacheco just overall stays healthy. But I think asking for RB1 upside from Isaiah Pacheco is a bit too much on a consistent basis.

If we can tone back our expectations on Pacheco and look at him more as a safe play in a good offense — instead of a high-upside play in a good offense — his draft capital may be worth it.