Isiah Pacheco's offseason storylines will be forgotten

For all of the reasons that Kansas City Chiefs fans have heard about Isiah Pacheco this offseason, it sounds as if none of those storylines will even matter when it comes to down to the 2023 season.

Pacheco is generating headlines at the start of Chiefs training camp for the same reasons we heard about him from time to time throughout this offseason: his health. Pacheco decided to undergo multiple surgeries this spring for a broken hand and a shoulder injury, and as the Chiefs returned to St. Joseph, Missouri for training camp before the '23 campaign, Pacheco came back to his teammates with some limitations.

It sounds as if any hand-wringing about Isiah Pacheco was unfounded for the Chiefs.

Despite the fact that Pacheco has not been given an all-clear for practice just yet, as he dons the yellow jersey in practice (reserved for players who are participating yet injured in order to keep other players aware), the Chiefs lead back made it clear that he would be "absolutely" ready for Week 1 when asked at training camp about his status.

Pacheco acknowledges he doesn't know when he'll return in full but he's not concerned that any delay would carry over that long into early September at this stage. Remember that he's already participating in part in mid-to-late July.

Pacheco is an important building block in a backfield that is allowing youth to literally run rampant. In his second season, Pacheco should be the lead back working in tandem with Jerick McKinnon, who is back on another one-year deal. Clyde Edwards-Helaire is also returning for his final year of his contract hoping to change his own injury fortunes if opportunity arises. Deneric Prince also shows promise as a rookie free agent.

Last year, Pacheco emerged as the team's best rushing option in the second half of a season in which he put up 170 rushes for 830 yards and 5 touchdowns.