After Isiah Pacheco, Who's Up Next in KC's Running Back Room? - KC Chiefs 2024 Position Preview

The Chiefs have a clear-cut No. 1 running back, but KC's depth is questionable behind Isiah Pacheco.

Jan 28, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco (10) tumbles after catching a pass against the Baltimore Ravens during the first half in the AFC Championship football game at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

With Kansas City Chiefs training camp just around the corner, one of the Chiefs' biggest positional unknowns will come from the backfield. Isiah Pacheco is clearly KC's No. 1 running back, but is the Chiefs' depth cause for concern?

Joshua Brisco: Starting at the top of the depth chart, Isiah Pacheco brings a unique and often-needed gear to the Chiefs' offense, even if he isn't quite a top-10 back in the league. If he can take another step as a pass-catcher and pass-protector, which he improved at in his second season, he'll be more highly regarded by the end of the year. Even if he's exactly the same player he was in 2023, he's a perfectly competent starting running back in the modern NFL, and one of the league's most fun runners, even while occasionally showing lapses in his vision. As we've discussed before, it's the depth behind Pacheco that should worry Chiefs fans.

Jordan Foote: That worry, combined with Pacheco's hard-nosed style and durability concerns, puts the Chiefs on relatively thin ice. Still, though, it seems like Clyde Edwards-Helaire's re-signing caught a lot more heat than it should've. He's obviously a backup at this stage of his career, and if Pacheco goes down, Kansas City might be cooked. But that anger shouldn't be directed at someone who's a good receiving back and has an excellent understanding of the offense. Instead, perhaps folks should be wishing the front office did more to insulate the room with higher-upside depth.
Speaking of which, Jerick McKinnon isn't walking through that door... yet. Who's your go-to pick for who should win the RB3 job, and who's your pick for who will win it? Are those answers different?

• Related Reading: Isiah Pacheco Ranked Outside of Top 10 RBs in Survey of NFL Employees

Brisco: It's me, I'm "folks." Truly, I also have no issue with the Edwards-Helaire re-signing in a vacuum, but Edwards-Helaire is my actual answer to your question about who RB3 should be — I'm just bothered by his shoo-in status as RB2. Edwards-Helaire put up a career-worst 3.2 yards per carry in 2023, but when Pacheco went down, Edwards-Helaire was the only option KC had. They had no interest in giving work to the since-released La'Mical Perine, who had one real carry outside of his Week 18 rest-the-starters performance against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Pacheco had 205 rushing attempts in 2023. Patrick Mahomes had 75. Edwards-Helaire had 70. McKinnon had 21. That's not sustainable.
The de-emphasis on individual running backs in the "running backs don't matter" conversation (which the Chiefs didn't subscribe to when drafting Edwards-Helaire in the first round) is largely based on the idea that you can have a stable of cheap league-average running backs who are likely to create approximately as much value as a high-end back. But the Chiefs don't have a stable of league-average backs! They have Pacheco, a wish, and a bunch of unknowns.
Back to the RB3 question: the best-case scenario is that one of the young undrafted free agent backs like Emani Bailey, Carson Steele or Deneric Prince (UDFA '23) surprise in training camp and force their way toward playing time. I think the most likely outcome is that Keaontay Ingram gets the first shot at the job. Honorable mention to converted rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit, though if he makes the roster strictly as a special teams ace, that would already be a huge win for an athlete who's still learning the sport of football. I'm not ready to make him a serious RB3 contender yet.

• Related Reading: Carson Steele "Cool With Whatever" Role Entering Training Camp

Foote: I left out Edwards-Helaire's rushing production knowing you'd pick that up. Classic alley-oop. As far as RB3 is concerned, I'm in agreement about Ingram likely being the "guy" there. Brett Veach made it a point to use his name earlier this offseason and while he hasn't done much in the NFL thus far, he's young enough to still have some prospect shine. Prince would be my backup to the backup there, with Rees-Zammit being in the exact same boat you have him in. The Chiefs will value pass-catching ability and prowess in pass protection to round out the halfback rotation.

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