Rarely do you see a beat writer go with the word “need,” but here we are. Kansas City clearly had no juice in the running game all last season as Pacheco struggled to run the same after returning from a broken leg. Kareem Hunt was a steady veteran pounder but couldn’t hit a second gear. Taylor notes that Brett Veach has been quoted as saying running backs in Andy Reid’s offense “need to be a better receiver than a runner” and ties them to Georgia back Trevor Etienne.

As was the case the entire postseason, Pacheco remained a non-factor behind Kareem Hunt and a struggling offensive line. Pacheco’s steady early-career momentum was halted by a Week 2 broken leg. He returned ahead of schedule in Week 13 but was visibly not the same player. Pacheco limped to a 3.6 YPC across the Chiefs’ final five regular season contests, handling more than nine carries just twice and never reaching 15. He caught only five passes during those five games, taking a clear backseat to a dead-legged Hunt. Veteran Hunt carried the mail during the Chiefs’ Super Bowl run. It stands to reason 26-year-old Pacheco (in March) will return to better health and increased production in 2025, but his violent running style makes it easy to envision more injuries. That, combined with his advanced age heading into the final year of his rookie contract leads one to wonder if Pacheco has already peaked for fantasy purposes, very much including in Dynasty formats. There’s still little doubt he will remain an important part of the Chiefs’ ‘25 backfield, likely taking the lead. It’s just possible his workloads decline instead of increase from here on out.

Pacheco failed to find the ball on a mesh point that resulted in the game’s only turnover, fumbling the ball away despite the scorer charging the fumble to Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs set up a beautiful screen for him in the second half that gave him a ton of runway, but he turned it into just two yards after stumbling. Finally, he failed to stay inbounds on his second catch, a first down for 10 yards that saved Buffalo a timeout and could have extended the game. Samaje Perine was summoned to finish the game. Pacheco doesn’t look explosive and seems to be gutting it out during the Chiefs Super Bowl run. They might want to use Perine more in The Big Game. With just 19 of 66 snaps, he’ll be touchdown-or-bust in DFS lineups for the Super Bowl.

Pacheco failed to corral his lone passing-game target. Seemingly nowhere close to 100 percent healthy after his regular season leg and rib injuries, Pacheco was a clear No. 2 to Kareem Hunt on the depth chart this afternoon. Although options are always limited on a four-team slate, Pacheco profiles as a poor DFS bet for conference championship weekend.