The Kansas City Chiefs struggled to run the football in 2024. They finished the season ranked 22nd in rushing yards per game and were in the bottom five for yards per carry. When you combine those results with a loaded 2025 running back draft class, many Chiefs fans assumed the team might look to upgrade the position early in last month's draft. That didn’t happen, and it now seems clear the Chiefs are content giving Isiah Pacheco another shot as Kansas City's feature back in 2025.
Pacheco got off to a promising start to his career. Despite being a seventh-round draft pick, he rushed for over 800 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie. He then took another step forward in his sophomore season, rushing for 935 yards and seven touchdowns while adding 44 receptions. That early production from such a late-round pick, combined with Pacheco’s infectious personality and relentless effort on the field, made him a clear fan favorite.
Unfortunately, the 2024 season did not go as planned for Pacheco. He missed 10 games due to injury and rushed for only 310 yards on the year with an abysmal 3.7 yards per carry. If that’s not bad enough, despite being back from injury, Pacheco was almost nonexistent in the playoffs. He had a combined 13 rushes for 37 yards (2.8 yards per carry) in KC’s three postseason games. That’s not his average—that’s his total playoff production.
The Kansas City Chiefs clearly still believe in Isiah Pacheco as their RB1.
With that kind of down year, it's easy to understand why many fans would be looking for an upgrade in 2025. The Chiefs brought back veteran Kareem Hunt, who out-snapped and outproduced Pacheco down the stretch last season. While Hunt’s playoff totals of 28 carries for 117 yards (4.2 yards per carry) aren’t eye-popping, they’re better than Pacheco’s. The problem is that Hunt will turn 30 before the season starts and already has a lot of mileage on his legs.
The Chiefs also brought in free agent Elijah Mitchell. Mitchell showed flashes in San Francisco but really struggled to stay healthy. In four NFL seasons, he has never played more than 11 games and missed all of last season with an injury. Back in his rookie year in 2021, Mitchell had 207 carries for 963 rushing yards, but he hasn’t cracked 300 yards in a season since.
The Chiefs did eventually draft Brashard Smith in the seventh round of the 2025 draft. Smith is a speedy but undersized former wide receiver. He gives KC more explosiveness and better pass-catching ability than Pacheco, but his inexperience running between the tackles will likely limit him to a passing-down/gadget role early in his career. If you want to argue that he has the upside to be better than Pacheco and a clear path to contributing, I won’t dispute that—but that would be a luxury, not something the Chiefs should be building their offense around this season.
So basically, Pacheco’s main competition at running back includes:
A 30-year-old veteran who’s unlikely to hold up as a productive feature back for 17 games plus the playoffs,
A running back with such a troubling medical history that he’s even less likely to hold up than the 30-year-old, and
A seventh-round rookie who’s still learning the position after converting from wide receiver.
While the Chiefs may not have come right out and said, “We believe Isiah Pacheco will return to full health and be productive enough to be our top running back,” their actions this offseason say exactly that. Was it fair to question whether he was still the right guy for the feature role after an injury-riddled and ineffective 2024? Absolutely. But the Chiefs are telling us they think he’ll bounce back this season.
There simply isn’t another back on the roster who makes sense as a player you’d pencil in as the full-season feature back. Hunt, Mitchell, and Smith are all guys who could be nice parts of a rotation and possibly give you a spot start here and there, but all have too many question marks to be counted on as the guy heading into camp.
What will be most interesting to watch is how much of a rotation Andy Reid decides to use with this group. Traditionally, even going back to his time in Philadelphia, Reid likes to have a clear lead back. Can Pacheco bounce back enough to remain that guy, or will his play force the team to go with more of a committee?
If Pacheco can get back to being the player he was in his second NFL season, that should be enough to make him KC’s top option at the position. Nine hundred rushing yards, 44 catches, and nine total touchdowns is a fine season in a pass-heavy offense. The Chiefs’ actions say they believe he can return to that level, but I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.