The Kansas City Chiefs have revamped their running game, and former lead back Isiah Pacheco will now be a Lions backup.
Former Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco was a key piece of the puzzle for the Chiefs, but he never quite delivered on the initial potential he showed. Now he’s with the Detroit Lions, and Pacheco’s initial comments indicate that he’s reconciled himself to playing a backup role behind Jahmyr Gibbs.
“Jahmyr is a hell of a player,” Pacheco said in an article written by Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “Hats off to him and the guys who have been putting in work here for a couple years now. Me looking from the outside in, it’s a hell of a group, and whatever I can do to contribute to the team is going to happen. Whether that’s punting the ball, whatever it’s at, no matter where I’m at on the field, cheering the guys on, bringing excitement to the team, bringing leadership, accountability.”
That’s a long way from the role Pacheco played in Kansas City, where he was the primary back in an offense designed around the unique versatility of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Pacheco won a pair of Super Bowl rings with the Chiefs, and according to Smith he said he was offered the opportunity to stay in Kansas City, most likely in a reduced role.
That led him to sign with the Lions, where he’ll try to rehabilitate his reputation as an oft-injured back who can’t run between the tackles and eventually get paid to at least some extent. It's definitely a long shot at this point in Pacheco's career, but running backs get hurt all the time, so the former Chiefs star could easily find himself in a primary role again.
“I’ve been a two-time champ, I’m not satisfied though. I’m more hungry than I ever was and I’m ready to get to work,” Pacheco added. “I’m hungry and I want to win it here, not anywhere else.”
The Chiefs, meanwhile, are shifting gears. They signed former Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III to a big contract, and Walker is much better equipped to run between the tackles as the Chiefs try to protect Mahomes better with a different approach.
Pacheco will still get opportunities to operate in space, just like Gibbs, given that the wide-open Lions offense is designed around giving their running backs room to operate. Pacheco’s running mate in Kansas City, Kareem Hunt, remains unsigned, so it’s unclear who the change-of-pace back will be for the Chiefs going forward.