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The Kansas City Chiefs have some question marks in the backfield. The signing of Ronald Jones II doesn't seem like it's going to work out and that leaves a lot of pressure on Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
One name that's emerged from the muck is Isiah Pacheco, a seventh-round pick out of Rutgers.
Is Pacheco going to be the backup to CEH? Does he have fantasy value? Read on and see.
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Is Isiah Pacheco The RB2 For The Chiefs?
There was a lot of excitement about Pacheco ahead of this season:
And the way that the team used him in the preseason supported the fact that he was going to be a key piece of this offense, as he was often on the field with the starting offense. It looked like this backfield was Edwards-Helaire, then Pacheco, and then a gap back to the rest of the guys.
But with Ronald Jones making the final roster, things are more complicated now. If Jones had been cut, it would have made clear that Pacheco was going to have a big role. Instead, we're now looking at a backfield that doesn't make a ton of sense behind Edwards-Helaire.
Right now, we should consider Pacheco to essentially be the RB2 to two different players: CEH and Jerick McKinnon. Those two guys should have clearly defined roles, with CEH getting early down work and McKinnon getting passing down work. Pacheco's probably the first guy up behind both of those guys.
Is Isiah Pacheco's Running Back Role Secure?
Not really.
Keeping RoJo is terrible news for Pacheco's fantasy managers. You don't need to keep Jones if you feel good about Pacheco as the backup, especially since you also have Jerick McKinnon to handle some passing-down work.
Even if Pacheco gets the first shot at being the backup, Jones is lurking.
The tides have clearly turned in this backfield. Pacheco was trending up for most of the preseason, but the construction of this final roster is a big, giant stop sign to the hype train.
Where Should I Draft Isiah Pacheco for Fantasy Football?
Pacheco has value in deep leagues, but this is a pass-heavy offense:
Pacheco will get some looks and could see decent usage in the passing game, but it's hard to see him carving out a large enough role to have the kind of upside that we thought he had a few weeks ago.
Pacheco has value as a late round dart throw in case there's an injury in this backfield, but he doesn't have standalone upside at this point.
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