Isiah Pacheco Week 1 Outlook - Lions at Chiefs

By Derek Brown (FantasyPros), Sun, Sep 10th 2023, 12:05pm EDT

Pacheco will reprise his role as the team's early down grinder this year. He was efficient as a rusher, ranking 18th in explosive run rate and 14th in yards after contact per attempt (minimum 100 rushes per Fantasy Points Data). Last season, he only saw a 2.3% target share and a 14.8% route per dropback rate. If you're plugging him into your lineup this season, it likely should be when he has an easy matchup on the ground. Luckily for Pacheco, Christmas came early, as the Lions couldn't stop anyone on the ground last season. Detroit gave up the third-most rushing touchdowns, allowed the seventh-most missed tackles, and surrendered the fifth-highest yards before contact per attempt. Last season, 65.9% of Pacheco's runs were on zone concept plays, as he was fourth-best in zone run success rate with the tenth-highest yards per carry on zone runs. Detroit allowed the sixth-highest success rate on zone runs. Pacheco is a low-end RB2/strong flex play.