Isiah Pacheco News: Adds weight, looking healthy

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Thursday that Pacheco "looks tremendous" at OTAs and has "put on some good weight," Charles Goldman of AtoZSports.com reports.

Pacheco missed Week 3 through Week 12 last season due to a broken fibula and looked like a shadow of his usual self when back in action, averaging just 3.4 YPC across Kansas City's five remaining regular season games and three playoff contests. When healthy Pacheco is an explosive, physical ball carrier capable of overrunning would-be tacklers, as demonstrated by his 4.9 YPC and 4.6 YPC averages in 2022 and 2023. An offseason to return to full form should securely position Pacheco atop the Chiefs' running back depth chart, especially in the wake of the team's decision to forego early-round additions to the position in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Chiefs re-signed Kareem Hunt and added Elijah Mitchell in free agency, both to one-year deals, and added Brashard Smith in the seventh-round of April's draft, but all three backs seem more likely to push for complementary snaps than an actual committee if Pacheco can indeed return to 100 percent strength.