The Kansas City Chiefs are making a change at running back – sort of.
According to a report from NFL Media, Kansas City is set to start rookie Isiah Pacheco ahead of Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the team’s Week 7 game against the San Francisco 49ers. CEH, however, should still play a big role in the offense and see some big shots.
Pacheco, a seventh-round pick from Rutgers, has gone for just 55 offensive snaps so far this season. He made 31 carries for 149 yards, with the majority of his work coming late in a blowout Week 1 win over the Cardinals (12 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown) and while mingling throughout the Chiefs’ win in Week 4 against the Buccaneers. (11 carries for 63 yards). In the other four games, he combined for just 24 yards on eight bins.
Edwards-Helaire was Kansas City’s 2020 first-round pick, after the Chiefs defeated the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. The Chiefs had just won it all with a backfield of undrafted free agents Damien Williams and Darrel Williams, as well as late-career LeSean McCoy, so the pick was roundly criticized in some circles for its low value. Considering the first two second-round picks were wide receivers Tee Higgins and Michael Pittman and the Chiefs are now reducing CEH responsibilities in favor of a seventh-round rookie, those critics appear to have been right.
