The Detroit Lions made their third free agent addition on Tuesday with the reported add of former Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco. Once thought to be one of young, rising stars in Kansas City, Pacheco’s career has certainly hit a bit of a speed bump in the past two years because of injury.
Naturally, that has resulted in a lot of varying opinions on the Lions’ signing. General manager Brad Holmes certainly has a tendency to roll the dice on injured players, but Pacheco remains young (just 27 years
old) and his playing style certainly mimics David Montgomery, the player he’ll be replacing.
But don’t take it from me. Here are how Kansas City Chiefs writers and fans are reacting to the news:
Chiefs reporters react to Isiah Pacheco signing with Lions
Here’s what Arrowhead Addict had to say about the move:
Now at 26, Pacheco brings an encouraging history with Super Bowl rings to show for it while also facing injury concerns about his effectiveness. The Lions will love Pacheco’s violent running style, and Dan Campbell feels like an ideal fit as a new head coach.
Here are a couple of nuggets from The Athletic:
NFL’s Next Gen Stats provides some evidence. In 2023, Pacheco hit 15 mph or more on 29 of his 205 carries. During the next two years combined, he had just 15 15-mph spurts — all on an almost identical number of rushing attempts (201).
Pacheco’s once-vaunted speed hasn’t helped him create big runs lately. Pacheco ranked fourth-worst among 49 qualified running backs in explosive run percentage (12 yards or more) last season, and he was also one of only four rushers with 100 carries who failed to break free for a 20-plus-yard gain.
Chiefs fans react
I was surprised to see how many Chiefs fans were sad to see Pacheco go considering how tough his last two years were in Kansas City. The majority of them wished the young running back well in Detroit—and some even suggested he would thrive more in Detroit than he did with the Chiefs.
Of course, there were certainly more than a handful of Chiefs fans eager to call him “washed” after a couple of injury-filled years to close out his Kansas City days. Here’s a sampling of their reactions:
Okay, this isn’t a Chiefs fan—it’s a Packers fan. So felt necessary to include it:
You can also read some live-incoming reactions from Chiefs fans over on Arrowhead Pride’s Feed post on the news.
National analysts
There are some very interesting advanced metrics that make Pacheco look like a very polarizing player:
But here’s a positive nugget I found regarding his pass blocking skills:
