Isiah Pacheco has won two Super Bowls. He’s played in a third. He’s been an offensive cog for an NFL dynasty, and he’s even led that same roster in rushing yards in two of his first three seasons.

Yet he’s still chasing one of his biggest goals as a professional football player.

The Kansas City Chiefs running back is back for his fourth season in the NFL, a contract year in which much is at stake personally as well as professionally. He’s scheduled to hit free agency next spring, and with it comes the possibility of making a lot of money. What would help him is to hit the milestone he’s been reaching for all along: the 1,000-yard mark.

In a contract season, Pacheco would love to finally eclipse a total he’s been chasing for years.

It was in training camp two seasons ago, as Pacheco was coming into his second season in the league, when he first stated that he was hungry to reach the 1,000-yard total as a personal goal. He told reporters, “For me, I want to run for 1,000 yards. That’s the goal, obviously, it starts here today at practice, day by day.”

Fast forward two years and Pacheco is back in St. Joseph for another go-around at Missouri Western State University in Chiefs camp. When reporters called back to the quote to ask about his goal this season, Pacheco had a simple answer: “Same thing: 1,000 yards. Let’s go get it.”

While Pacheco has more reasons to celebrate than most players in an entire career, given his success and the championship runs by this Chiefs roster, it’s also likely frustrating for the former Rutgers product that he’s yet to reach it for multiple reasons.

First, Pacheco has come oh-so-close to his stated goal in his first two NFL seasons. Playing running back for Andy Reid is never going to lead to massive totals in the ground game with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback (as it should be). That said, Pacheco had an impressive 830 yards and 5 touchdowns in his rookie campaign.

In 2023, after making that statement in the first place, Pacheco was nearly there with 935 yards and 7 scores on the ground. In fact, a shoulder issue kept him out of a couple of games, and that likely would have been enough if he’d only stayed healthy.

Injuries were an even greater concern for Pacheco in 2024. A fractured tibula robbed him of not only playing time but production. His metrics were all down considerably last season, and he’s largely been overlooked as a weapon in the Chiefs’ offense coming into 2025 because of it.

Pacheco has been down, but he’s certainly not out, and the former seventh-round choice is as inspired as ever to reach the elusive 1K-mark in rushing yards in 2025. Not only would it signal a clear return to the top of the depth chart for the Chiefs’ backfield, but it would likely reap dividends in his wallet as well come next spring.