The Chiefs landed running back Isiah Pacheco in the seventh round and he’s had a clear positive impact on the team’s offense.
He finished the regular season leading the league’s top offense with 830 rushing yards and five touchdowns. While Jerick McKinnon was Kansas City’s best backfield receiving threat, Pacheco also caught 13 passes for 130 yards.
After rushing for 95 yards in his postseason debut, Pacheco said this week that he’s looking forward to playing in the conference title game against Cincinnati.
“I’ve been waiting on this moment my whole life,” Pacheco said Wednesday, via Rocky Magana of ArrowheadPride.com. “So for me, [it’s] continue to be myself and go out there and follow our leaders, and take it play by play, and let the game come to me.”
Pacheco mentioned quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, McKinnon, and the offensive line as those with the kind of playoff experience he can lean on to get a grasp of what to expect on Sunday.
“The guys who have been here before me and they’ve been in this situation, those are the guys that I look up to and learn from — learning from them has helped me overcome the game by playing so fast,” Pacheco said. “For me to just continue to be patient and learn from my mistakes … it’s important for me to take those mistakes and grow from them.”
Pacheco had 66 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown in Kansas City’s Week 13 loss to Cincinnati. He also caught two passes for 16 yards and averaged 23.2 yards on five kick returns.