The Kansas City Chiefs are hoping to get a fully healthy Isiah Pacheco in the backfield for the coming season, but the fourth-year running back may not be guaranteed his spot on the depth chart when he does hit the field.

Pacheco got off to a strong start in 2024 with 189 all-purpose yards and one touchdown through the first two weeks, but was then sidelined by a fractured leg and didn’t return until late November.

Pacheco struggled to replicate his success, and now NFL.com insider Christian Gonzalez warns that he could lose carries to some of the team’s other running backs if he doesn’t return to his prior form.

Isiah Pacheco Lost His Edge After Injury

Gonzalez noted that Pacheco didn’t look the same when he returned late last season, but has worked hard this offseason to be back into playing shape.

“The Chiefs RB suffered a fractured fibula in Week 2, and when he returned, he didn’t appear to be the same angry runner down the stretch of the Chiefs’ regular season and playoff run,” Gonzalez wrote. “Pacheco has bulked up to 216 pounds, just like how he entered the NFL. Meanwhile, the Chiefs took a flier in the draft by selecting Brashard Smith out of SMU in the seventh round.”

Gonzalez speculated that the team’s other running backs could win a bigger share of the carries if Pacheco looks the same as he did in the final stretch of last season.

“Pacheco will hope he can have an impact just like his first two seasons in the league, but if he has a slow start, Smith, along with Kareem Hunt and Elijah Mitchell, could take some snaps from the electric RB1,” Gonzalez wrote.

Pacheco emerged as a dynamic rusher for the Chiefs after joining as a seventh-round draft pick, rushing for 1,765 yards with 12 touchdowns through his first two seasons in Kansas City.

Chiefs Running Back Makes Big Prediction for 2025

Pacheco has faith that he’ll return to his pre-injury form, telling the Kansas City Star’s Jesse Newell that he feels good after adding on some muscle and getting back to the weight he was at the 2022 NFL Combine, when he ran a 4.37 time in the 40-yard dash.

“Just going back to 216, 4.37 Isiah Pacheco-style,” Pacheco said.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid noticed the difference, saying the running back is playing well with his added weight.

“He’s put on a couple pounds of good weight,” Reid said. “He got himself down there a little bit last year and leaned up. But man, I think he looks tremendous right now.”

Pacheco said he encountered some difficulty last season when he was working hard to rehab his broken leg and needed a full offseason to make up for it.

“You’re out there working your tail off and just sweating every day and not eating enough to get the weight back,” Pacheco said. “There’s not going to be as much time to gain weight during the season, rather than the offseason and the whole program that they have here for us.”