Isiah Pacheco was a three-star prospect who played at Vineland South High School in Vineland, NJ. He played running back, quarterback, and defensive back in high school. Being a native of New Jersey, he committed to Rutgers over offers from other programs. That decision was cemented after the sudden and unexpected passing of his brother and sister. Pacheco would go on to be one of Rutgers most prolific rushers.
On a terrible Rutgers team, Pacheco had over 550 yards as a freshman. He took the starting job as a sophomore and continued to start over the next three years. Pacheco was used as both a rusher and a pass catcher, demonstrating his all-purpose skillset. Totaling 2,449 career rushing yards and 249 receiving yards in college, the counting stats do not tell the whole story. His game film illustrated he was a decent receiver and an efficient rusher given he was running behind a bad offensive line.
At the NFL Combine, Pacheco measured in at 5-10 and 216-pounds and put up a 4.37 40-time, rendering a 98th-percentile Speed Score. He was selected in the 7th round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, but made an immediate impact in his rookie season when Clyde Edwards-Helaire was injured. Pacheco rushed for 830 yards on just 170 carries in his rookie season and played a significant role in the Chiefs' Super Bowl win over the Eagles.
2023 was a massive success for Pacheco for many reasons. Not only did he set new career highs in rush yards (935) , receptions (44) , and rushing touchdowns (9)- The Chiefs made no major additions to the teams backfield that could take Pacheco off the field. He appears set to be a starter on one of the leagues best offenses in 2024.
