Isiah Pacheco To Be Cleared For Contact Later This Month

Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco is slated to be cleared for contact by August 20th according to reports.

From my understanding #chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco should be cleared for contact by the 20th of August. Hand is good, it’s the shoulder that’s left to be cleared.

— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) August 2, 2023

Pacheco has been battling both hand and shoulder injuries this offseason. His hand injury has fully healed, but the shoulder injury will still be monitored up until the target date. He had surgery on a torn labrum in the offseason and the Chiefs have been cautious about their young running back.

Pacheco was a seventh round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Rutgers. He seemed to be buried on the chiefs running back depth chart, but an injury to incumbent starter Clyde Edwards-Helaire made Pacheco the co-starter alongside Jerick McKinnon. Pacheco started 11 games for the Chiefs and had 170 rushing attempts with 870 yards and five touchdowns. When CEH came back, Pacheco simply won the job.

Not really known for his pass catching ability, Pacheco is a very adept runner with a ton of speed and agility. The Chiefs have had this notion of a running back by committee approach. Pacheco has shown that he has earned the early down work at the very least. The lack of pass catching has held him back in terms of being a true three-down back.

The Kansas City Chiefs are -165 to win the AFC West according to Missouri sportsbooks.

The Chiefs did, however, sign undrafted free agent Deneric Prince who has looked really good at the start of training camp. There may be some competition after all as there might be four running backs on the roster to start the 2023 NFL season. Nevertheless, Pacheco when healthy, should be the starting running back after what he showed last season and during the Chiefs Super Bowl run.