How much of the Chiefs' offensive workload will belong to Isaiah Pacheco in 2024?

Isiah Pacheco could enjoy his best career output yet, given a number of factors for the Chiefs offense this season.

Isiah Pacheco enters his third career season in 2024. So far, the Rutgers product has turned heads by bringing a rugged and fierce running style to a Kansas City Chiefs offense that is generally more flashy. But in each of his two career seasons, Pacheco's physicality has helped the Chiefs immensely in the biggest of moments and into the postseason.

Far and away, Pacheco is the lead running back on the Kansas City depth chart entering this season. Clyde Edwards-Helaire is back on a one-year deal. He will not be relied upon in a starting capacity, but he's a trusted and experienced substitute.

The rest of the Chiefs' running back room is filled with question marks. How swift of a transition can someone like Louis Rees-Zammit make to American football? Do either of Deneric Prince or Keaontay Ingram take another step forward after being in the Kansas City system last year? The chances of undrafted free agent rookies like Emani Bailey and Carson Steele are intriguing to monitor as well.

The size of the room might also be increasing. Reports from the earliest days of Chiefs training camp have Kadarius Toney finding reps at the running back position, but that only brings further questions to a group without many answers.

All told, the workload of Isiah Pacheco could be enormous in 2024, as a result. How much further could he touch the rock in his third season? That may be the biggest item surrounding Pacheco's season.

Year-By-Year Increase for Pacheco?

It took about half of the regular season in his rookie year for Isiah Pacheco to officially win the starting job. Even with that slower start, he nearly rushed for 1,000 yards in 2022, finishing with 830. That only came on 170 carries, to boot, good enough for a yards-per-carry average of 4.9.

If you look at last year, Pacheco was again just short of 1,000 rushing yards. He had 35 more carries than the year prior and tallied 935 rushing yards. It is important to note that Pacheco played in 14 games in 2023, three less than his rookie campaign. Once again, the yards per carry average was a respectable figure at 4.6.

Having those 35 extra carries last year was crucial to not only his further development, but also to the Kansas City Chiefs themselves. Kansas City had to redesign how their offense attacked late last year. It was more of a complementary approach that won them Super Bowl LVIII, compared to their other two recent Super Bowl victories. Pacheco was continuously a driving force in giving the Chiefs a jolt that they needed to sustain drives and put up enough points.

Another statistical note that exemplified that importance was his rushing yards per game last year. It was nearly 20 more yards per game than in 2022, sitting at a 66.8 clip.

Pass Game Potential for Pacheco?

The potential of Isiah Pacheco in the passing game is also going to be fascinating to monitor when it comes to his 2024 workload. Obviously, his physical side can make a difference in pass protection. But even as a pass catcher, Pacheco took a massive leap in year two of his career.

His targets in the pass game jumped from 14 in 2022 to 49 in 2023. More importantly, Pacheco averaged 3.1 receptions per game last year. Andy Reid is one of the best at designing screen passes, so getting the ball to him quickly in space is not something that should be difficult.

Even as a route runner and after the catch, Pacheco just looked more comfortable last season. If he can take another stride in that area, the chances as a pass catcher should only increase this upcoming season.

Offseason Additions Could Lead To Easy Gains for Pacheco

Feeding Isiah Pacheco heavily may be necessary in certain spots on the schedule or against specific opponents. But at the same time, feeding him further may be due to opportunities that are too juicy to pass up. How defenses will have to respect new additions to the Chiefs' offense could lead to easy gaps for Pacheco to exploit.

It is not like the Chiefs are going to run it more than passing it most of the time anyway. However, with a revamped wide receiver room, the speed of Kansas City got increasingly clearer this offseason. Names like Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy are supposed to make opponents respect the deep ball of the Chiefs again. Will that lead to even lighter boxes for Pacheco to match up against in 2024?

Managing that and facing the hard-nosed, tough play style of this running back is a choice between poisons that defenses will have to grapple with for a full 60 minutes each week. In the end, Pacheco could quickly enjoy his best career output yet, assuming his workload continues to climb.