This wild Sports Illustrated prediction shows how far Isiah Pacheco has fallen

Most fans would agree that the Kansas City Chiefs' run game could have been much better in 2024. After two stellar seasons that saw him rush for at least 800 yards, Isiah Pacheco, who helped the Chiefs rushing attack thrive in 2022 and 2023, missed half the regular season and finished with just 310 rushing yards to go along with one rushing touchdown.

Pacheco missing a chunk of the regular season definitely hurt the Chiefs rushing attack but even when he returned, he didn't look anywhere close to being the same guy. By the time he had returned, former third-round pick Kareem Hunt had rejoined the team and thrived with his old team, leading the Chiefs in rushing with 728 yards and seven scores.

Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated threw an interesting prediction out there regarding Pacheco and Kansas City's rushing attack when he predicted that "The Kansas City Chiefs’ leading rusher for 2025 will not be on the team’s roster at the publication of this piece".

"I still maintain that with a glut of running backs taken in the 2025 NFL draft—five more than in ’24 and seven more than ’23—there will be a miniature free agency wave of backs that are available toward the end of training camp. The Chiefs will scour said market and pick up a viable weapon."

Isiah Pacheco snubbed in wild SI prediction

Orr predicts that the Chiefs aren't going to be content with Pacheco being their starting running back in 2025 and will add another weapon to their run game. It wouldn't be the craziest thing considering the former Rutgers star is coming off his worst season and is only under contract for one more year.

The Chiefs drafted Pacheco in the seventh round of the 2022 draft and he immediately became a game-changer for them, dashing for 830 yards and five scores as a rookie. He was a huge part in helping the team win its second Super Bowl title in four years and continued to show that he was a big piece of the K.C. offense in 2023, rushing for a career-high 935 yards and seven touchdowns (also a career-high).

Hopefully Pacheco's 2024 season truly was marred by injury and he comes back stronger in 2025. It's a contract year for him so there's plenty at stake for him in his fourth NFL season. Hopefully the Chiefs reap the benefits of that.